


Rebirth Through Wicked Flames

by Juwch



Category: Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2018-11-21 01:28:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 97,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11347113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juwch/pseuds/Juwch
Summary: AU fic. Yuuta is a social outcast who believed he had special abilities during middle school. Starting high school he tried to throw away that burden in hope to switch it for a social life. And while he gets just that, it was different from what he had expected, as he gets dragged into the world he tried to release himself from. Only this time, it's real.





	1. Prologue

**00: The Prologue**

She sensed it. The presence of an otherworldly creature pushing its way into her world. She grinned. If she could sense it’s mana through the spells laid upon her apartment by the Priestess, it would prove to be a great fight. She couldn’t sense whether it was a Demonic or Angelic spirit or even a banished ability user, but it didn’t matter. All would fall before the powers of her stigma, The Wicked Eye. She got up, and quickly threw on her clothes, a dark skirt with a lacy white underskirt, a purple long sleeved shirt, a black sleeveless vest and dark brown boots. She walked towards her door stopping right before grabbing the knob. Although she had permission from the leaders of her “organisation” and of the local association of temples to fight, the Priestess didn’t like it when she had to watch over the use of her stigma. Especially not when she had to wake up for it. Thinking about that she also instilled herself to limit her mana outpour during battle. If it exceeded a certain level the Priestess would surely notice and she would definitely have her locked away again.

She turned around and walked onto the balcony. She slung a rope over the edge and looked down, calculating the jump to the next balcony beneath her. Grabbing hold of the rope she leaped. She jumped over the railing, letting the rope slide in her hand. The rope started swinging back and at the exact right moment she grabbed it tightly, landing softly on the railing of the balcony beneath hers. A boy stood there, shocked out of his mind. He was about her age, slightly older physically but most likely a speck of dust in comparison to her mentally as she had the knowledge of all that held the stigma before her. She teasingly asked: “Did you see?” As he stood there with his mouth open, too paralysed to say anything, she took the time to study him a bit more. She rarely saw her neighbours, the boy even more so. He was wearing a grey parka and dark green pants. Brown hair, slightly tanned. And then she looked him in the eyes. Her brain stung and she wobbled a bit. He finally got out of his state of shock and jumped forward to catch her. She had already regained balance however and softly kicked him out of instinct. He fell, but the needle was still in her brain. It wasn’t his spell then. Memories of dark and murky flames shot up.

“Who are you?”, she asked. 

“Togashi Yuuta”, he whispered with fright clearly shown on his face. 

It didn’t bring any more memories and the memories of flames faded. She was still confused and now ached to set her mind on something else, and a fight would do nicely. So she jumped, leaving the boy behind.

Landing on the ground, she sprinted forward through the park behind her apartment complex toward the street. Stopping at the sidewalk as her senses regained their normalcy she turned around and looked back at the boy’s balcony. He stood their scratching his head, looking around to see where she had gone. She sighed. She started to think she would never understand normal humans. She turned to the now clearly sensible mana and grinned once more. A demon would lose its powers again. And it was close by. She jogged for a couple of minutes and stopped at the grounds of an abandoned temple. Leaping over the fence she entered the forest surrounding the temple. A minute later she found where the demon was pushing against the veil that separated the dimensions. The ground had turned ash grey and veins of darkish red ran through the marked area.

She removed her eye patch to reveal her “Eye”. In contrast to her normal blue eye this one was golden and every once in a while black veins jolted through it, like lightning strikes. She whispered: “Vanishment this world” and disappeared from the forest.

She stood in a cave, the trees in the forest replaced with stone pillars. And at the place where the marked area had been, stood the demon. A fire demon as she had suspected. Humanoid, but three meters long with dark reddish skin, a short scaled tail, and horns which almost circled completely, barely not scratching his own cheeks. At the very least, not yet. He wore black plate armour on his chest and green scaled pants, probably a former enemy. 3 eyes without irises or lids turned to her as she showed up in his dimension. He now had two choices, the first one was breaking his concentration on entering the Human World and restarting after fighting her or doing both simultaneously. But demons usually don’t get this strong if they’re dumb so he quickly turned toward the intruder, drawing his large two-handed sword and using it as a support after stabbing it into the ground. 

“Well, you look like a tasty treat, human, what might your name be?” he asked rather cockily as he stood there towering over her one-and-a-half meter length.

She threw on her wickedest smile and leaned on the pillar closest to her with her eyes closed. You could say a lot about demons but they were always courteous. She, however, cared not about courtesy thus she said: “You first, small fry.” 

The demon gritted his teeth and angrily yelled: “I am Doxius, Captain-Commander of the Black Flock, now tell me who you are before I cut of your head!”  
She sighed, it was only a Captain-Commander. What a waste of her time. It must have been because he had tried to break through nearby her that she felt it. She pushed herself of the pillar and walked back to the spot where she entered. She bit her thumb and started to accumulate mana, still not showing her “Eye” to the enemy. One drop of blood hit the floor of the cave and she released enough mana to create her weapon. The polished wood appeared in her hand and she grabbed it. A double bladed axe infused with her mana during the smithing process. It was a crude weapon, the silverisch grey blades veined with gold and black but it was hers, and she loved using it. But she didn’t need it today, it was theatricality. She also loved instilling fear into her enemies. And it worked.

As soon as Doxius saw the axe he pulled his sword out the ground and screamed: “That axe! This can’t be!”

She lifted her face, so he could see it, and declared: “I am Takanashi Rikka!”

The demon rushed toward her.

“Wielder of the Wicked Eye!”

The demon lifted his sword, ready to strike.

She aimed her axe at him, grinning wickedly, and said,

“And you are dead!”

A purple beam of energy shot out the tip of her axe handle and pierced Doxius’ chest.  
He screamed in death, anger and fear. His body crumbled and dissipated. The demon wasn’t dead, his body was, his memories, his powers were. But he would embody another flame and might grow stronger. She at the very least hoped. She always loved a good fight. And if the demons or angels grew too strong, ‘they’ would let her loose to wreak havoc upon them.

She let her axe disappear with that happy thought, put her eye patch back on and returned to her world.

* * *

He had been putting away trash onto his balcony when a large shadow flew by the moonlight. He turned toward it only to see a girl swinging from a rope land on the railing of his balcony. He stared in both shock and awe. He didn’t know what to say so he didn’t say anything. He just stared at her. Fair skin, dark bluish hair, “Hell? That couldn’t be natural” he thought, Light blue eyes, or rather eye, since the other was covered with an eye patch and about his age. Clothing wise she looked a lot like Sophia, a girl, the only girl that liked and joined him in his Chuunibyou syndrome. His most prominent thought however was that she was cute, stunningly so.

“Did you see?” she asked teasingly.

He didn’t know what to say but then, she wobbled.

He jumped forward to grab her but only caught a foot. With his face.

He landed on his bum and heard her ask harshly “Who are you?”

Scared because he was kicked without even seeing it coming he quickly whispered “Togashi Yuuta”.

And then she was gone, she had disappeared almost instantly from his sight. She had jumped, she must have… right?

He jumped up and looked over the edge of his balcony only to see nothing. He scratched his head and looked around to notice a figure that looked well enough like her to be her. She was at the street, hardly ten seconds had passed and she had crossed the park? That was a 5 minute walk! If you walked fast! He had to know who she was. His curiosity got the better out him and he rushed out of his home, after her.

He arrived at the street only to catch a glimpse of her as she cornered a road. He followed and caught up, slowly, but he did. He started to think he had imagined that she had ran so far so fast, that it was only because he had been scared out of his mind or better yet, because this was only a dream or rather, nightmare. But at that moment she stopped jogging and jumped over a 2m fence. Cleanly jumped over it! Was she a martial arts master or something? But curious as he was he followed. He crawled over the fence and followed the traces she left in the forest. He saw her at a small open place before she disappeared. Again! What the hell was she?

He ran toward the open spot where she disappeared only to see a ash grey circle with pulsing dark red veins. Was she beamed up by aliens or something!? At that moment the veins disappeared and he jumped out of surprise. On his guard he studied the area. Her foot prints never reached the grey spot so she couldn’t have been beamed up… right? Where is she then? Her steps ended right there, and there was no mud on the trees so she couldn’t climbed them. It was at that moment he heard a slight thud. He turned around and, 

There she was.

And then there was darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, AO3's posting system is more annoying then I expected it to be... Ah well, so chapter 1 of the backlog from ff.net. Any comments or whatever reviews are called her are welcome, though the next fifteen chapters have already been written so... good luck on changing anything in these early chapters. Also, chapter numbering will probably be odd, since the prologue is chapter 0 for me. Zero-based indices for the win!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Awakening

**01: Awakening**

Yuuta awoke with a terrible headache. He lifted himself into an upright position and then realised that he was in his own room. Had last night been a dream then? Maybe the dream was something his brain made up to explain the headache? He was wearing his pyjamas so it had to have been a dream. After all when she presumably knocked him out he had been wearing normal clothes. She wouldn’t have used him as a doll… he thought. He hoped! It was probably just a dream. He was a 16 year old after all, dreaming of cute girls was normal. Combine that with his recent healing from his chuunibyou syndrome and it would all fit.

He decided to check one more thing though. He glanced through his window at the balcony, and there was no rope. He smiled, he actually had to laugh. Stress for his new high school life had actually made him believe something as ridiculous as that was true. He was laughing so hard that Kuzuha, one of his younger sisters, knocked on his door, and asked if he was alright. He wiped away a tear and got up. He opened the door and patted her head.

“Of course silly, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re so weird brother.”

“No, not anymore. Left all of that behind me.”

“You always be weird brother.” Kuzuha said as she stretched herself to pat him on the head as well.

“That’s not a compliment, Kuzuha.”

He smiled and turned around to get his uniform. Kuzuha had already been in her uniform, she was starting middle school at the same time he started high school. He wanted to say something about it but she was already walking away to the living area for breakfast when he came back out.

So he yelled: “You look adorable by the way!”

She turned around, face bright red and roared: “Shut up brother!”

He quickly retreated into the bathroom and heard something smash against the door with great force. He laughed and heard a small growl of anger coming through the door.

“I’ll get you back for that brother!”

“Give me your best shot!” He yelled back.

He knew she would get him back, and then he would do something to get back to her and so on and so on. That had been playing this cat and mouse game for 13 years, since the day of her birth. He always had a good relationship with his family, even during his chuunibyou days. His mother had thought it was just a phase and Kuzuha had loved teasing him about his lack of powers although he fervently kept believing he did. He smiled, realising how happy he was with his family, and soon with his new life. He got dressed in his uniform, which consisted out of a white dress shirt, tan coloured sweater, a striped red school tie, a dark blue blazer and matching pants.

He walked out of the bathroom and saw one of Kuzuha’s textbooks lying on the floor. Grinning, he grabbed and walked toward the living area. Kuzuha was still a bit red and was stuffing omelette in her face.

“Aren’t you going to need this someday?”

She grumbled a thank you and quickly stuffed another piece of her omelette in her face.

He grinned and greeted his mother.

“Good morning mum.”

“Morning Yuuta.” As she extended a plate for him. He reached out for it but she quickly pulled it away before he got it.

“Be a sweetheart and get Yumeha for me, will you?” She said with a devilish grin.

He sighed in acceptance: “Sure mom. She’s in her room, right?”

“She should be.”

So he walked to the girls’ room and found nobody. Of course she wasn’t there, why ever would she be in her own room. He sighed once more and walked to his own room. He prepared himself and opened his door.

He heard “Darke Flamu Mastee” in broken English and he was smashed on his forehead with his own sword. He grabbed the blade, lifted it of his head and said to the 5 year old at the handle:

“Yumeha, it’s time for breakfast, and you should really stop playing with this stupid stuff.”

“It’s not stupid, it’s cool!”

“It is stupid though.”

“It is not! It is really cool!” she insisted.

“Fine fine.” He reluctantly sighed, this was not an argument he could win anyway. “Just go get your breakfast now.”

She let go of the sword and ran past him. He threw the sword into his room with the rest of his chuunibyou stuff. Maybe he should clean it out. He’ll think about that later, turning around and going for breakfast.

* * *

 

She woke up very grouchy from the little sleep she got that night. After knocking out her downstairs neighbour she was forced to call the Priestess to help cover up the existence of the Otherworld. Who was definitely angry about her having to come out. Not that the Priestess needed sleep, but she still liked it an awful lot. What surprised Rikka more however was the reaction of the Priestess when she saw the boy.

Almost panic-struck she had asked: “Did you take him to the Otherworld with you?”

Confused she had shook her head, normal humans couldn’t be taken into the Otherworld without physical contact and it was almost never done.

The Priestess had sighed in relief but then quickly returned to her normal stern expression. She slung the boy over her shoulder and started reprimanding Rikka all the way ‘till home. She asked Rikka’s motivations for sneaking out, and, of course, didn’t listen to the answer. Whenever Rikka could interject in the preaching speech of her sister (oh yeah, did she mention the Priestess was her sister Touka?), she tried to convince her not to lock her away again. Finally budging at the apartment complex, Touka gave her another chance. They split up there, so Touka could take care of the boy, erase his memories and such things, while Rikka would returned to bed. Today was going to be an important day for her after all.

Returning to the present, Rikka scurried for clean underwear and her first ever school uniform in the mess that was her room. She luckily found some and then decided to gather the rest to throw in the laundry. She was running out of clothes and allowance to not wash anymore. She rapidly got dressed and looked at herself in the mirror. Red ribbon, dark blue blazer over a tan coloured sweater and white dress shirt, checkered red skirt and grey stockings that went up to her thighs. Satisfied enough she put on her shoes. These however, she was not satisfied about. Flat brown shoes. She longingly looked at her black army boots before sighing and leaving her room.

Touka had made breakfast and was, surprisingly, happily munching on the food. Rikka sighed again. That could only mean one thing. Her sister was going to play the big sister role.

“Good morning sis.”

“Morning Rikka. Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, I guess…” hesitantly she continued, “How did it go with that boy?”

“He shouldn’t remember anything” Touka answered quite harshly, but continued smoothly in her big sister role, “Anyway, with your first day of school and all, I thought I’d warn you. Listen Rikka, you’re a very cute girl and there will probably be guys who’ll approach you because of this. And they might not always have the right intentions so---“

“Like any of them would ever be able to do anything to me I didn’t want.” Rikka interrupted while laughing.

“That was going to be my point. Listen, we had to pull quite some strings to get you in this school and if you’re going to be punching guys through walls chances are you’re not going to be staying there for long.”

“Got it sis.”

“Also, try to make some friends and again please don’t knock anyone out.”

“Yeah yeah, could you stop whining now?”

“Rikka, don’t be so haughty to me, I’m trying to be of help here.”

“I know… sorry.”

“Apology accepted, now, get going else you’ll miss the train. Oh and don’t forget your lunch.” As she pointed toward the kitchen counter where a black bento box stood.

Rikka grabbed the box and while walking out the door yelled “Thanks sis!”

She stood at the very end of the platform, waiting for the train. There were a couple of people that wore her school’s uniform but judging by the colour of their ribbons and ties they were all her seniors. There was one freshman girl who she had nodded to but the girl had completely ignored her. She was starting to wonder why she had wanted to go to school anyway.

She sighed and looked around again to see if she could find someone to talk to, only to see her neighbour walked onto the platform… in her school’s uniform. “Crap!” was her first thought but mere milliseconds afterwards her sister’s voice reminded her that he shouldn’t remember anything anymore. He was looking around and suddenly noticed her, jumping backward in surprise, he knocked into the other freshman while tripping over his own feet.

Why hadn’t he forgotten? Had her sister’s spells failed? That couldn’t be. She looked again to see if he was still noticing her, but he seemed to have forgotten her completely as he was talking to the girl he had just tripped against.  The train arrived too at that moment. She sighed and got on. She wondered why it stung a bit.

* * *

 

He had hurried to get to the train station on time but thought he had missed the train never the less. He looked around the platform and noticed a couple of his school seniors. He sighed in relief. He took some closer looks to see if there were any freshman and saw a petite girl at the end of the platform. The girl from his dream. The dream that most definitely was a nightmare. He took a step back and tripped over his own feet, bumping into someone and pulling them to the ground too.

“Watch were you walk retard!” was said rather harshly.

He turned around to apologize but the words didn’t come out. He was looking at a very pretty girl. A freshman like him, light brown hair with a pink clip in her front bangs, amber coloured eyes, and a tad bit shorter than him.

“I mean.. uh… I’m sorry, are you ok mister?” she said overly sweet.

‘Mister? Never mind that! Answer you idiot!’ Yuuta thought to himself.

“I’m fine, and I should apologize, I bumped into you after all.” He answered finally.

She smiled: “It’s okay, I’m fine too.”

“I’m Yuuta Togashi, what’s your name?”

“Uhm… Nibutani Shinka.” The overly sweet voice answered.

“Uhm… Why are you talking in such an overly sweet voice Nibutani-san?” he asked dumbly.

“Oh you’re right, I’m sorry.” In a more normal tone, but there was still something off about it, like it wasn’t hers. He also noticed that she didn’t explain anything.

Leaving the issue, he asked: “Do you live in the area Nibutani-san?”

“Yes, but I’m not giving you my address just yet Togashi-kun.” She jokingly said, “I’m guessing you live around here too?”

“Yes, I do. Do you mind me asking why you’re going to a school so far away?”

“Ah, my… family has some connections in the school that’s why. But if you think it’s weird, there must be a special reason for you right, Togashi-kun?”

Crap, he dug himself a hole. At that moment the train arrived, giving him some extra time to think and he found an answer that might save him, although it was a lie. He couldn’t exactly be honest about his chuunibyou. He chose this school because he knew no one from his middle school went there.

“My ex-girlfriend goes to the local high school and our breakup wasn’t exactly pretty, because she had cheated on me and---“

“No need to explain Togashi-kun, I understand the situation. It’s never fun to be in the same area as a recent ex-lover.” Nibutani smiled.

“Oh do you have experience with that situation then, Nibutani-san?”

“Togashi-kun, that is not something you ask a lady.”

“You’re right, I guess I should apologize for digging into your private life. So, sor---“

“No need, that’s what friends too after all, ask embarrassing stuff about your past.”

“We’re friends then?”

“Of course, what else would we be, Togashi-kun?”

“I guess you’re right…”

Staying calm on the outside, but on the inside he was practically dancing. He hadn’t even gotten to school yet and he had already made a friend. And  not just anyone, a pretty person like Nibutani-san. But he contained his excitement.

“So Togashi-kun, what are your hobbies?”

Crap, she may not have noticed but that was a pretty loaded question for him.

“The usual stuff. Videogames, anime, manga and so on.”

“You’re such a geek Togashi-kun, not that I’m one to talk, I spend most of my days reading and blogging on the internet.”

“Not what I had expected, to be honest.”

“Everyone says that, and they don’t want to believe me either when I explain it by saying I wasn’t really popular in middle school and didn’t have a lot of friends.”

“That can’t be, such a pretty girl like you?”

“So you think I’m pretty, Togashi-kun?”

“I uh… I… Yes? Unless you mind? I’m sorry, I don’t really know what to say now.”

‘Great going Yuuta, you didn’t sound like an idiot at all’, he thought to himself.

She chuckled behind her hand: “Don’t worry Togashi-kun, I’m just teasing you.”

He sighed in relief.

Not long after that they arrived at their end station and walked the short end to school.

“See you soon, Togashi-kun” Nibutani said as they walked through the entrance.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“A girl doesn’t give away all her secrets when she just met a guy, you know. You’ll find out soon enough!” she said while walking away.

He shrugged and walked to the gym where the opening ceremony was held. When the freshman representative was called Nibutani walked onto the stage. She smiled at him when she saw him. This was her big secret? He grinned. He always expected the worst.

* * *

 

Finally, that boring entrance ceremony was over. That haughty girl from the train station had been the freshman representative. No wonder she had looked like she stood above the rest back at the train station. She was making her way to the class room.  She walked through the door to see, of course, the haughty girl standing against the window sill chatting with some girls. So most naturally, that guy was going to be in her class too.

And yes, there he was. Of course. She sighed. He was chatting with the guy behind him so he didn’t see her and she quickly sat down. This couldn’t be a coincidence anymore. First last night, then this morning and now he’s in the same class as her? She got very irritated and started tapping her foot. Some girl next to her turned towards her but when she saw the thundercloud on the face of her neighbour quickly decided to leave her be.

From the corner of her eye she saw the haughty girl wave to the back of the class and turning in her seat she saw the boy wave back. Okay, That Is IT. She was going to get answers, and she was going to get them now. She got up and walked toward his desk.

“Who are you?” she asked in a harsh tone.

The guy behind him said: “Oh man, Yuuta, another one? You’re so lucky.”

“Shut up Isshiki.” The boy answered “I’m Yuuta Togashi, and who might you be?” he asked her in a hard tone of voice, staring her straight in the eye.

“I’m Rikka Takanashi.” She answered as her headache returned.

“Ok, Takanashi-san, what is it that you need from me?”

“You make my head hurt and I want to know why.”

“I have no clue, so leave me be, will you?”

“Come on dude, she’s super cute and practically confessing to you!”

“Shut up Isshiki.”

At that point she noticed the whole class was staring at her, including their homeroom teacher who had just walked in. But because of the worsening headache she couldn’t care less. There were no visions this time but the headache was way worse. Paralysingly so.

“I’m not leaving until I have an answ--- Ahh AH” , she cringed in pain.

The home room teacher finally awoke: “Someone take her to the infirmary.”

The whole class was staring at Yuuta.

“Me? Seriously? Fine.”

He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out the classroom and toward the infirmary.

“Damnit, why do I always get stuck with weirdo’s. I changed, I don’t deserve being pulled back.” he muttered. “Couldn’t you have just left me alone?” he eventually asked.

“No.” but that was all she could say.

“To hell with all this.” He said as they arrived at the infirmary.

He dumped her on one of the beds and went looking for the nurse. The headache lessened now he wasn’t so close anymore. A minute later he returned.

“The nurse is going out for a bit but she told me to give you these.” He threw her a package of aspirins. He filled a glass with water, gave it to her and then sat in the chair opposite to her bed.

“Now what is it that you want from me?”

“I think someone from my previous lives knew you.” She muttered.

At that point he realised. She was a chuunibyou patient.

“Get that chuunibyou bullshit away from me. I am cured, leave me be. I want a new life, not get sucked into that crap again.”

“This isn’t some fantasy you idiot, I am the wielder of the Wicked Eye. Doesn’t that ring any bells?”

“God, shut it. I wouldn’t care if you were the daughter of some king in your fantasies. It doesn’t ring any bells. Fuck!”

“Fine, I’ll proof it to you.” As she removed her eye patch. “Now tremble before the Wicked Eye.”

He stared at her like she was retarded. “You wear a colour contact? Jeez, even I never went that far.”

That dense motherfucker. Fine, she’ll proof it by shifting into the otherworld. Disappearing in front of him should prove her point. “Vanishment this world.”

She stood in a green lush field. Oddly enough there didn’t seem to be any spirits around. Even odder, she was still looking at him. Why was he here? Only ability users or people who owned spirit weapons in a five meter radius from the one who crosses should be pulled along. He should be neither! Her headache became worse. Suddenly she flew, Smashing head first into a pine tree a couple of meters away. A white wolf was transforming into a human and stepping toward the boy. “Why hadn’t she sensed it?” that was her last thought before fainting.

* * *

 

He looked around in confusion. Where was he? He was suddenly standing in a lush green field with pine trees every couple of meters and some bushes all around. He looked at her in confusion only to see her staring back the same way. And then suddenly disappearing. He heard a heavy thud and saw her lying by a pine tree. She looked okay. At the very least it didn’t look like she was bleeding.

He faced forward to see a man. Pointy chin, ridiculously white skin, red eyes, White fur all over his back and long silver hair. He wasn’t wearing anything but brown leather pants and a scabbard from which he was pulling a single-edged curved blade much like a boken.

“I’m obviously hallucinating!”

“Young ability users. A perfect prey for me!” The man jumped forward, slashing downward with his sword.

Yuuta jumped backwards, breaking his fall with a roll, surprising himself by narrowly dodging the sword. His cheek was cut and bleeding though. He touched the wound and looked at his own blood.

“What the hell is this?!” he yelled. This couldn’t be an hallucination anymore.

“The Otherworld, worthless human.” Another voice said, coming from the same man though. He had two voices?!

Yuuta grabbed a branch that was lying around and stood up. He knew he had no chance to win. But he wasn’t planning to lose either.

“Hahaha! That branch won’t protect you human!” both voices said simultaneously.

They rushed him with an angled strike coming from the top right. He sidestepped, ducking under the blade and slammed the branch against the naked side of the man.

“Haha! Did a fly just land on me?” The man laughed, and he side swung his sword.

Yuuta was still off balance because of his strike, so he couldn’t dodge. He had one choice or rather hope. He quickly turned toward the blade, held the branch vertical and put his other hand at the top to increase its stopping power. He hoped. He clenched his eyes and felt a force pushing down on his arms.

“What!?” The first voice yelled, with the second voice following: “How could a branch stop our sword?”

Yuuta opened his eyes, and looked in confusion to the branch. The side that had stopped the blade was on fire. Black fire? The flames didn’t feel hot to the hand that was gripping the branch.

The man had recovered from his confusion and came toward him once more with a diagonal strike. Yuuta deflected and let the sword slide down leftward, creating an opening. He smoothly followed up with his own diagonal strike from the top right, which the man dodged. He saw the man grit his teeth. Yuuta decided. He’d figure out what the flames were, why he knew how to swordplay and all of that later. First, he’ll survive.

“Ready for the real fight now?” he asked the man.

“Don’t get cocky now human.” They clashed.

The man stepped forward side swiping.

Yuuta blocked the strike and forced the blade to the ground. He stepped in closer and jolted his elbow upward, hitting the man on his nose, sending him stumbling backward.

Whilst stumbling backward the man slashed upward, preventing Yuuta to follow up and delivering another cut on the boys cheek.

They retreated, and retook their positions. The man was bleeding quite heavily from his nose, which looked broken. Yuuta could taste his own blood on his lips that had been steadily running down his cheeks. Nevertheless he grinned. He was enjoying himself, this was exactly like how he had dreamed to be not even a year ago.

They rushed each other again, Yuuta taking initiative this time. He stabbed toward the abdomen of the man.

The man easily deflected, that was however part of Yuuta’s plan, using the force of the deflection he spun around completely, dropped on one knee and swung at the man’s front leg.

The man pulled his leg back, positioning himself to stab his sword between Yuuta’s shoulder and neck.

Yuuta rolled sideways, got up quickly and hastily made a downward swing toward the man’s now unprotected neck.

The man stole his trick, lowering himself on one knee, raising his sword and supporting it with his other hand. They struggled for a while until the man pushed the branch to the side making Yuuta stumble forward and past him.

Yuuta quickly turned around and took his position again. The man stood in position three meters away from him.

“You’re not bad human, you’ve surprised me quite a bit actually.”

“Same to you, and believe me you’re not the only surprised one.”

Now that that was said, they started approaching each other carefully. When they were only a meter apart they started exchanging strikes.

The man stabbed toward his chest, Yuuta knocks the sword sideways and steps in for a stab himself.

The man side steps, lunging at Yuuta’s unprotected back. Yuuta rolls forward to dodge.

Spinning around while getting up, he side slashed, knocking away the sword that tried to follow up.

The man was too close to attack with the branch, so Yuuta made a fist and tried to land an uppercut. The man rolled with the punch negating most of it and stretched his legs whilst falling backward, kicking Yuuta in the chest.

With the air slammed out of his lunges Yuuta flew backward and rolled to break his fall. He ended on his feet and rushed forward with an overhead slash. Narrowly blocked by the man still getting up, Yuuta didn’t let the clash last by smashing his knee upward into the man’s nose (again!). The man slammed against the ground.

He however quickly side swiped his legs knocking Yuuta to the ground as well. Both rolled away from the other before getting up again.

The man could not breath through his nose anymore and was heavily breathing through his mouth. Yuuta tasted blood in his mouth and was pretty sure he broke at least one rib.

They were both struggling now.

They rushed once more. Yuuta aimed a stab at the man’s heart, which got deflected. Yuuta kept his momentum however and bashed his shoulder into the man’s ribcage. With the air knocked out of him, the man slammed into the ground. And kept lying there.

Yuuta stumbled toward him. A big blue bruise was showing on the man’s chest, probably had a broken rib too. Yuuta kicked the sword out of the man’s hand and placed the burning branch at the place where his heart should be.

“Wait, wait!”

Yuuta stopped.

“Keep my sword, it deserves a new master. Then I’ll be able to find you when I’ve been reborn as well and we can play a round 2. ‘t was a good fight, human.”

“It was. My name is Yuuta Togashi, will you give me the honour of knowing yours?”

“My name is Heliath.” The man said before coughing up blood.

“Goodbye Heliath. I shall remember that name.” and he pierced the man’s chest. A green light shot up to the sky.

He grabbed the scabbard and picked up the sword. The flames on the branch extinguished. He looked around for the girl and saw that she was only lying a couple of meters away. Holding the scabbard in one hand and using the branch as support in the other one he practically limped there. He fell on his knees and shook her shoulders, she didn’t wake up. He called her name, she didn’t wake up. And then he poked her. She shot upright and looked at him angrily. She then saw the corpse behind him and looked at him again but this time in disbelief.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She stared at him. He had cuts on his cheek and blood was trickling out his mouth. And he asked her that question?

Before she could answer however, he fainted and fell over sideways. He was still breathing, but scared to touch him because of his wounds, she let him sleep there. She got up to check the corpse. An angelic animal spirit. Most likely only Private class, maybe Sub-lieutenant class. Still, too much too handle for a normal human. She looked at the sleeping boy.

What exactly was he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actual chapter one! This was way back when I actually posted semi-regularly and kept deadlines. Chapter quality varies until I dump deadlines. Then you only get bad chapters with months in between! For those who don't like reading between the lines, that was a joke... the bad chapter part, not the months in between part.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Decisions In The Dark

**02: Decisions In The Dark**

“Don’t forget, you’re stronger than any of them…”

The whisper lingered as he clawed his way out of the darkness of his own consciousness. Yuuta opened his eyes and sat upright as memories flooded his mind. He remembered the fight, the girl, the forest and all the rest. Panic started welling up but he pushed it down. With calculated, slow movements he checked his body for wounds.

There were none. That’s impossible! He had clearly felt the cuts on his cheeks, the bruises on the rest of his body, his broken rib. He patted his chest multiple times. It didn’t hurt.

“We’re still in the OtherWorld. Your mana heals wounds inflicted here. You had a punctured longue ‘cause of your broken rib. If this had been the real world you would have been in the hospital, and they would not be sure if you could’ve have survived that.”

The girl stood a bit further next to the corpse he created. He… Created? He killed… Yuuta had to strain himself not to puke.

“Don’t worry. You haven’t actually killed them.”

“Huh?”

“These creatures don’t actually die. I’ll explain in a minute. First, how did you beat the angel?”

“Angel?”

“This thing.” as she pointed to the corpse.

“I… don’t know… I…”

How did he do it. His memories were a bit fuzzy. Like there was a filter over it. Like they weren’t his. He tried to push through the filter and succeeded. The memories came back very clearly now and he was shocked. What did he do? He acted really out of character just then. Normally he would have ran. Who in their right mind would fight against that man. He remembered talking to the person at the end of the fight. Why did he wait when he was called on? The conversation didn’t make sense either. ‘Reborn’?

He then noticed that the girl, Rikka was it?, was staring at him.

“Uhm… I… Uh… grabbed that branch there, and then I fought him with it. But the branch was on fire, black flames, does that make sense?”

“Black flames? That doesn’t make sense. There’s never been a black manifestation as far as I know.”

“Manifestation? What the hell are you talking about!?” Yuuta said, as he felt his anger return.

“Calm down. Fine, fine, I’ll explain.” Rikka answered annoyed.

“I’m listening, start talking.” He coldly said. He was starting to get tired of this nonsense of hers.

She looked at him angrily but there was something in his expression that didn’t look like it was his. Something twisted, something that made her want to obey. She shook of the feeling and started her explanation.

“First of all, we are currently in an alternate dimension that mirrors ours. Like the other side of a coin. In this world 3 ‘types’ of creatures naturally exist. Demons, Roamers and Angels.

All these creatures were originally roamers, or with one soul, these usually fight between each other and never try to attack us or cross over in our world. When they fight between each other, the winner will steal the soul of the loser.

Those left soulless become demons. Weaker than both others, they grow in strength by fighting and training among each other. They also unite in Flocks and then Armies to have a stronger position against their enemies, us and angels. We use demon army ranks to classify all creatures by comparing their strengths. That angel you beat was a new-born and still rather weak so he was probably Sub-lieutenant rank. Back to demons, when they die their objective knowledge retains and waits to be reinhabited by a soul from a defeated angel.

Those with two souls become angels, haughty pricks that think they’re better than anyone. One of the souls reconstructs themselves as the body and the other becomes the primary mind, that makes decisions. That’s why they have 2 voices. While they hardly fight between each other, they fight demons, to consume their bodies and increase their strength. When they die, the primary mind will search a demon’s knowledge and be reborn as a new roamer. The body decomposes and the soul links with the element in which it died also creating a new roamer.”

His brain readily accepted the knowledge. It was like he had already known.

“Why do demons and angels want to cross over into our dimension?”

“Simply put, the air.”

“The air?”

“Yes, this world’s air is void of mana, regenerating mana here is purely done from your body’s energy and tires you out. Our worlds air is filled with mana, and easily converted in our own. Humans don’t grow from consuming mana, ‘they’ do.”

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Uhm… oh yeah. While it’s comparably easy to let your mana flow outside your body here, it’s immensely difficult in our world. When you wish to make use of your mana it is still advised to make a small cut or something that bleeds. Mana uses the same system as blood to flow through your body, thus by letting a wound bleed you’re also releasing mana constantly.”

Huh… so if I do this, Yuuta thought as he bit his index finger. He then smudged some of his blood on the boken. She kept an eye on him and wondered what he was trying. And then the sword vanished.

“How do you know how to seal weapons? Can you resummon it too?”

“Sure”, the sword reappeared this time around his waist where it’s supposed to be.

“Don’t ask me how I do it though… It just felt natural.”

She looked confused but continued nevertheless.

“Now about those ‘flames’ of yours. They weren’t actually flames. They were an outward manifestation of your mana. The colour however, I do not have an explanation for. The manifestation of mana takes the colour of the element or elements that you align with. Mine for example is a dark purple, as before I got the stigma, I was most aligned with the sun, sky and fire, giving me a bright purple. When the Wicked Eye increased my strength to handle all elements however the colour darkened.”

His brain went in overdrive. That could only mean…

“That means you are aligned with everything, and thus also nothing.”

He was void. Unaligned. He didn’t belong anywhere. He stood in the middle.

“You probably just couldn’t encompass what happened and didn’t register the colour correctly though. Like I said, as far as I know, there hasn’t been anyone with black mana, ever.”

“What so I’m dumb?”

“No… maybe? How would I know I met you not even an hour ago!”

“Well yeah but… wait, how much time passed since we left the classroom?”

“30 minutes? Why?”

“Great, who knows what the fuck the rest of our class will think we did!”

“Why are you so worried about what others think?”

“Because I have a past with being a social outcast, and I don’t want my high school life to mirror my middle school one.”

“I’m a social outcast too, in fact it’s the first time I go to school today!”

“Exactly! You don’t know what feeling alone is like. You can’t feel lonely when there’s no one around!”

“What kind of logic is that?!”

“Doesn’t matter, get me outta here.”

“Why do you need my help mister natural?”

“Oh fucking ladidoo. Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

Yuuta closes his eyes.

“Yeah, you’re not going to succeed, you know that right?”

“Vanishment this world.”

And they were back.

“What?”

“Now, I’m going back to class. Don’t follow me, come in like 15 minutes or something, got it?”

He turned around and left. She ran after him.

“Wait. Wait! Wait DAMNIT!”

“What is it?” throwing her a cold stare.

“I think you might be important. Either way, you’re going to need help or training else your mana will go out of control.”

“Ha, funny that. And you’re going to be the one to train me? I beat the thing that knocked you unconscious so…”

“First of all, that was a surprise attack that shouldn’t have happened, I should’ve sensed him. Second of all I think that it was because of you.”

“What? Was I so strong that you couldn’t sense anything else like in manga?”

“No, ‘cause after I woke up I could feel everything again.”

“Then it’s probably because you’re stupid. I’ll train myself, I don’t need you. I am mister natural after all, aren’t I?”

She gritted her teeth. “That won’t always work idiot!”

“When it stops working, I’ll be sure to knock on your door first.”

“You don’t get it, you might hurt friends and family.”

They had arrived at the classroom but Yuuta halted in his tracks. “What?”

“Your mana running rampant may hurt your family.”

“How?”

“Several ways, the most important one being that large amounts of mana may attract ‘them’.”

A slight pause.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Sure, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He opened the door and walked back to his seat after apologizing to their homeroom teacher, Nanase Tsukumo, and she followed suit.

“Welcome back Togashi-san and Takanashi-san. We were just picking the class representatives. Nibutani-san was already chosen.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind being the second one, sensei.” Yuuta proclaimed.

“Very well. Any objections from the class?”

No reaction except some grumbling from the guys.

“And you, Nibutani-san?”

“No, I would gladly have him by my side.”

“Goddamnit Yuuta.” Isshiki silently proclaimed, while the rest of the guys looked rather stingy.

“Would you rather do it, Isshiki?”

“No way man, you’re probably the only guy who could keep a cool head around her… you’re not---”

“No way, don’t even finish that sentence. Besides, you’ve probably haven’t even seen me talk to her yet. Believe me, everything I say makes me sound like an idiot.”

“Can’t be that bad, she digs you, at the very least I think, now get your ass up there.”

“Yeah ‘cause you’re an expert, aren’t you Isshiki.” Yuuta said as he stood up leaving Isshiki behind grumbling.

Yuuta took his place next to Nibutani.

“Give your class representatives a round of applause now.”

A polite applause rose up.

“Now, I’ll see you two after school, because you’re both new to this I believe?”

“Yes, sensei.” They answered simultaneously.

* * *

 

The rest of the day passed without further incidents. At the end of school.

“Togashi-kun, are you ready to go to the faculty office?

“Sure, Nibutani-san. See you tomorrow Isshiki.”

“Later Yuuta.”

They left the classroom.

“So… how are you enjoying your high school life so far Nibutani-san?”

“I don’t really feel any different compared to middle school. But you have been enjoying yourself quite a lot haven’t you?”

“I guess, Isshiki is not a bad guy. You’d probably like him too, although he’s super scared of you.”

“Scared? Sounds… fun. Well introduce me to him tomorrow. But that was not what I had in mind when I said you were enjoying yourself.”

“What did you mean then?”

“Your little… ‘escapade’ with Takanashi-san?”

“Nothing happened!”

“Oh really? You guys were gone for quite a while, and your clothes look pretty dishevelled to me.”

“Nothing happened. The nurse had to go out so I had to watch her while she rested after taking some meds. There’s nothing between me and her. Absolutely nothing.”

“Okay okay, got it. That’s… good.” She said with a smile.

“Good? Why?” he suspiciously asked.

“No reason. At least as far as I will tell you.”

“You’re teasing me again aren’t you?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

To Yuuta’s regret the conversation was cut short because they had reached the faculty room.

“We’re here Sensei.”

“Ah, my new class representatives. How was the first day of high school?”

“Great, but exhausting.” Nibutani answered.

“Well I’ll keep the explanation short then. If you have any questions you can always come ask anyway.”

They left 15 minutes later.

“For a short explanation, that was pretty long.” Nibuntani said.

“Yeah, I guess. Say Nibutani-san, would you like to go grab a bite to eat before taking the trains back?” Yuuta asked with all the courage he could muster.

“Sure! Is what I would say, but I can’t. I need to be somewhere, family business.”

“Oh.. okay.” The answer came as his shoulders slumped.

“Don’t act so dejected. Let’s meet up at the station tomorrow morning for breakfast?”

“Yes, I’d like that! I mean, sure. Whatever.”

“Jeez Yuuta-kun, shouldn’t you be an actor or something?” she said while bursting into laughter.

“Yuuta-kun?”

“Ah yes, sorry it felt natural I guess. Do you mind?”

“No, no, but we just met today. First name basis is a little fast… right?”

“Who said you could use my first name, Yuuta-kun?”

“I… I can’t?”

“You can call me whatever you like.” She winked and turned around, leaving a baffled Yuuta behind.

“Are you sure?” he finally yelled after her fading figure.

“Just call me by my first name, you oaf.” She said while glancing over her shoulder. She looked a bit embarrassed.

“Okay, see you tomorrow then, Shinka-san.” Yuuta yelled.

She merely responded by waving over her shoulder.

* * *

 

She stood in front of a rather large crowd of middle aged men and women, in the middle of a dimly lit semi-circular room. Although she wore a tight business suit like outfit, she felt very out of place and uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that she didn’t even try to be polite against them.

“Alright geezers, I’m here to report on the devil brat.”

“Nibutani Shinka-san, I presume. I had expected more of your demeanour.” A deep voice from the shadows said.

“Well, I’m sorry. I can also not give the report, if that’s what you’d like?”

“Nibutani-san, because of your position you have certain… benefits. But that attitude is  not something we appreciate.” A female voice responded.

“Now, state your report.” A voice, like nails scratching a school board, said.

*cough* “Fine. Here is my report on Takanashi Rikka.

 She seems normal enough. As you are all aware of her stigma is hidden behind an eye patch. Because of her lack of social skills, she has little to no contact with the rest of the class. The sole person I saw her communicate with is a boy with the name “Togashi Yuuta”, who I befriended as well. Their relationship worries me however.”

“We don’t have time for the love-sickness of a teenager.” A silky voice said.

“That was not my point. She stated that he made her head hurt, which can be a result of recalling sealed memories. She collapsed and he took her to the nurses office. Where I suspect she crossed over and took him with her as I couldn’t sense her anymore for a while. I couldn’t get out of class on time to follow them, however when she returned, I could sense a second presence, small and weak, but it was there and traced it back to him.

I suspect he may be one of that… ‘thing’s servants as well, and the headaches were caused by her remembering his predecessors. Either way he needs to be trained and maybe even controlled. I plan on inviting him to that club and find out more about him.”

“This might be a problem.” The scratchy voice said.

“No no, unless he is ‘it’ himself we need not worry. She can tie any of his servants easily. Remember, she was the one who eventually beat him as well.” The silky voice said.

“As far as we know. They never tell us enough.” A second woman said.

“Very well. Nibutani-san, you may proceed with your plans. We will expect a bi-weekly written report on the boy, and if anything out of the ordinary happens, report it to your master immediately. You are dismissed.” The scratchy voice said.

She bowed and walked away. As she left the room she could hear a discussion flare up. She doesn’t care however. She was thinking about him.

What would he think when he knew who she really was.

Would he still want to call her ‘Shinka-san’?

A heavy sigh escaped from her mouth. Maybe love-sickness had something to do with it after all. But that didn’t matter. She was going to be the strongest.

Then she could cut her ties with this whole thing that hung over her since her birth.

Then she could finally have that normal life that she always wanted.

Would she want to however, after dragging him down into this?

No no, she wasn’t to blame. It was that girls fault.

She could always take him with her when she escaped.

Why did she care about it so much though? She only met him today. Guilt?

Probably.

Another sigh.

I’ll put him out of my head for now. I’ll face the problems when I get there.

Though I wonder.

Would he be thinking of me too?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never realized how hard writing these chapter notes were when I fist did them. I know I was struggling way back when I wrote this, but I don't exactly remember with what. And since these were updated versions, I don't have the original notes. It'll be fine. In a few chapters I will have my original notes!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. A Pink Coloured Life

**03: A Pink Coloured Life**

“Why are you here?”

His mood was already ruined. He had hardly slept in anticipation to the morning. But then this happens.

“I asked you something. Why the fuck are you here?”

She threw him a sideway glance. “To protect you.”

“No. No! Leave. Now. Don’t follow me. I’ll see you in school. I have to be somewhere.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Haha, yes, you can. Here, let me help you.” He grabbed her by her shoulders, turned her toward the stairs and gave her a push so she stumbled up a step.

“Now simply follow those stairs, until you get to your apartment and wait there ‘till it’s time to get to school.”

“You’re not thinking I’m going to listen right?”

“You’re not thinking I’ll let you invade every second of my life are you?”

“And you’re going to stop me?”

“Well… I guess?”

“You won’t even be able to touch me if I didn’t permit you to.”

“Shut up! I don’t need to hear that from a little girl like you.”

*THUMP* A fist dug its way into Yuuta’s stomach.

“I dislike when people call me little.”

“I dis… like being… spied on.” Yuuta answered trying to regain his breath.

A heavy sigh. “Fine.” And with that she walked away.

“Watch out for that woman though. She’s more like me than you’d like.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“You’ll find out… eventually.”

“Are you calling me stupid again?”

“I am going to go now, but that wasn’t the point I was trying to make. Idiot.” And she left.

A sigh of relief.

He started scratching his confidence and courage back together that had shattered because of her appearance. He already was sleep deprived, he couldn’t go half-assed about this… meeting. Date. Appointment. I hope it’s a date. Does she think as it’s a date?

Probably not.

He slapped himself in the face.

“Man up Yuuta, you goddamn wuss.” He said to himself.

He started walking downstairs and checked his phone for the time. He had some left. Should I go buy something for her? I don’t know what she likes though. Maybe flowers? That might be a bit too much. I’ll just go and see, I guess.

* * *

 

She was sitting on a bench in front of the station. He’s late, she thought, while absentmindedly kicking her legs. Suddenly there was some form of commotion at the other end of the square. Squinting her eyes she could see him push through the people in the rather crowded square.

She got up and brushed the dust of her skirt. He had finally reached and looked positively miserable.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Late, yet he hadn’t found an appropriate gift so he doesn’t even have an excuse.

“Doesn’t matter, but now I have a reason to force you to pay for me though.”

“Uhm… ok.”

“I know this café just around the corner. Ridiculously expensive. But pretty good food.” She said with an evil grin.

“Ridiculously expensive and pretty good don’t trade off that well, don’t you think?” He tried to bail out.

“I think so too, but you’re paying, so I do not care.” She started tugging at his arm. “You’re not bailing out on me after making me wait for so long.”

“I was only 10 minutes late, that’s not that long.”

“I was half an hour early.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to be late, Yuuta-kun.”

“You’re really holding that against me are you?”

“Of course. You should never ever make a girl wait.”

“You were half an hour early, how was I supposed to know? According to the internet, girls take a lot of time to get ready so I thought I had some room to flex in.”

“They do, but I had little sleep and was up early.”

“I still say that I couldn’t possibly have known.”

“Well… I guess that’s true somewhat… like five percent.”

“Five percent…?”

They arrived at the café and their conversations was temporarily halted to greet the waitress. She took them to a table and gave them a menu. To Yuuta’s relief the prices were rather reasonable.

“I wasn’t going to pluck you, you know.” She said putting down her menu.

“I didn’t think so either, but… you never know.” He said in an embarrassed tone.

“For now, let’s do this.” She held out her phone.

“Do what?”

“Exchange emails you doofus.”

“Ah right… uhm… can we not right now?”

“Yeah so you can make me wait another half hour next time?”

“But… I… uh…”

“Can I take your order?”

Yuuta sighed out of relief, earning him a crippling glance from Shinka. They quickly ordered.

“Now, give it to me.”

“Huh? Give what?” acting as if his nose bled.

“You didn’t think such a little interjection would make me forget what I was doing, right? I’m pretty sure we already established who the dumber one was here.”

“That’s mean Shinka-san. Fine fine, I’ll give it to you.”

He extended his phone and they exchanged addresses. However,

“Divine exseed freya magna?” (Yuuta’s mail address is divine-exseed-freya-magna@siftback.ne.jp)

He acted like he didn’t hear it.

“That sounds like a lame special move name.”

Still no reaction, although he started sweating profusely.

“DIVINE EXSEED FREYA MAGNA.” She yelled, scaring the waitress who was bringing their food and pulled the owner out of his day dreams.

“Please don’t yell it anymore! Please!”

“Why do you have such a lame mail address, Yuuta-kun?”

“Uhm…”

“Yes?”

“I thought it sounded cool…”

“Oh so you made this address when you were a three-year-old?”

“Not exactly… more like three years ago…”

“Whaa… Yuuta-kun really is a geek.”

“I’ll change it, give me a second!”

“No no, keep it. It’s refreshing to know someone who’s so open about themselves.”

“That’s because I suck at lying.”

“That’s not necessarily bad.”

“It’s not good either!”

“At the very least it means you can be trusted, in contrast to some other people…” she murmured the last part.

“What?”

“Nothing. Let’s start eating before the food’s cold.” Her expression rather solemn.

He decided to drop the subject. He grinned sheepishly and dug in after yelling “Itadakimasu!” in a childlike tone, which yielded a small snicker from the girl.

“You’re a great guy Yuuta.”

“How would you know? We met each other yesterday.”

“So you don’t think so?”

“What I’m saying is, that people act.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you act differently around other people. We only recently met, so we’re still looking for what personality to assume around each other.”

“So you’re not the real you?”

“Well, I’d like to think I’m an honest person, but I keep secrets and act around you, to get you to be my friend. Just like how you act around me. I’m sure the Shinka I’ll know in a month is different from the one I’m here with now.”

“So who are you underneath the mask then? I’m curious now.”

“I guess you’ll have to find out.”

“And how would I do that?”

“Being my friend for a start.”

“And if I don’t want to be friends?”

“Then you’ll know me as a very cynical and sarcastic person.”

“Isn’t that who you really are?”

“Only around people I dislike.”

“Hmm… you’re quite wise Yuuta-kun.”

“You spend a lot of time on the internet as well, don’t you? I’m sure you knew this already.”

“So… would you still want to be my friend if I didn’t act?”

“Depends on whether I like being around you then or not.”

“We’ll see then?”

“That’s kinda the point.”

“Whaa… Yuuta made me feel dumb. Now I feel bad.”

“Oi, no reason to be that cruel Shinka-san. I ranked pretty high on the entrance exams as well.”

“But not first.”

“Who cares?”

“I do. That’s why I was number one.”

“Are you always such a show off?”

“Only around people I want to impress.”

“After yesterday, you’ll need a whole lot more than that to impress me.” He sighed.

“See! You did do something to Takanashi-san!”

“I did not! Why is that even you’re conclusion!?”

“What else could have been more impressive than having breakfast with me?”

“Magic?” he answered grinning foolishly, it wasn’t that far of the truth anyway.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Yeah. I just meant overall, yesterday was very surreal for me.”

“How so?”

“So much changed for me, but I don’t feel any different.”

“Before you adjust to these changes, there’ll be new ones I’m sure. I have this feeling you’re very good at getting yourself into messes.”

“Aren’t we funny? Hope you have a good time watching it from the side lines.”

“Naturally.”

He glared at her while she was laughing loudly. They had some small talk while quickly finishing their meal as it was almost time to go. Leaving the café they were in for a surprise though.

“Takanashi-san?” Nibutani asked.

“Oh great. I thought I said not to follow me!” Yuuta said.

“I didn’t. I just got here.”

“Then why are there leaves and branches stuck in your hair and an obvious hole in the hedge at the window where we sat?”

“Magic?”

“Goddamnit.” He chopped her forehead.

“That hurt.” she said blandly.

“No it didn’t you liar.”

“Yuuta-kun, just let it go. Takanashi-san, will you join us?” Nibutani said.

“I guess I will.”

And that was the start of the most awkward trip to school for Yuuta ever.

He was flanked by both girls, who were glaring at each other the whole trip. He just couldn’t get it. This was something he dreamt of for a long time, and yet it felt more like a nightmare.

“Couldn’t they just get along?” he begged the gods when they finally arrived at school.

And on cue.

“Nibutani-san, I don’t appreciate you being so close to Togashi-kun.”

“Jealous Takanashi-san? Don’t worry, Yuuta is just my friend.”

Yuuta started looking positively sour, until she followed up,

“At the very least, for the moment still.”

“I don’t have any interest in him.”

“That’s why you followed him when we met up, and dragged him out of the class yesterday?”

“That’s… secret.”

“That’s not suspicious at all. But aren’t you being a bit cruel to him? This must be really awkward for him.”

“Like I care!”

“If you say so, then leave us be.”

“I can’t.”

“You don’t want to is what you’re saying, right?”

“Class is starting, let’s just go.” Yuuta interjected, trying to break the girls up.

“Fine!” They both answered.

With a deep sigh Yuuta followed the girls inside.

* * *

 

“Yo Yuuta, see you got yourself some company this morning.”

“Thank god I escaped from that.”

“Escaped? That must have been a dream come true.”

“It was not, Isshiki. Well… the first part was but when Takanashi-san joined, things went bad quickly.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

And Yuuta told his story.

“HahahaHAha!” He burst into laughter.

“It’s not funny!”

“But it is! You’re probably the only guy here that wouldn’t be happy if Nibutani and Takanashi were fighting over them.”

“It sounds fun in theory, but in reality it isn’t. Girls are fucking scary, it seemed they’d try to kill each other at any moment.”

“Yeah, that would be regretful. They’re too good looking to lose. How ‘bout this, you take Takanashi and I’ll comfort Nibutani.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Remember, you can’t even talk to her without stuttering.”

“Shut up!”

“Which reminds me, Nibutani wanted to meet you, want to join us for lunch?”

“Uhhh… sure man. I’ll try.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t be third wheeling. I have this feeling we’re going to be a car anyway.” Yuuta said whilst pointing over his shoulder to Rikka.

“Yeah, yeah. Have your laughs. Just you wait, by the end of this year, I will be dating the most beautiful senpai we have!”

“Yeah right, have you actually talked with anyone but the guys?”

“I did.”

“Our teachers don’t count either.”

“I didn’t.”

“Wow… never thought I’d be a cooler kid than… well anyone.”

“You’re still a geek though. What was your address again? Divine Exc---”

“Ok got it, you can shut your face now.”

“Oh, did I hurt your widdle feelings?”

“Don’t get condescending. Else you can forget about lunch.”

“Fine fine. You ass.”

“Oh shut it, I know I’m amazing. Class is starting anyway.”

* * *

 

“Shinka-san, Isshiki Makoto. Isshiki Makoto, Nibutani Shinka.”

“Ni- Nice to mee- meet you, Nibutani-san.”

“Nervous Isshiki-kun?”

“Very much so.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re… wa- wait, that’s a trap right?”

“Yeah, get used to it, she does that a lot.” Yuuta interjected. Nibutani started giggling.

“You know me well, Yuuta-kun.”

“I’m just happy you have one more victim right now.”

“Wait wait wait! You guys are on first name basis?”

“Yeah?” “Yes?” they simultaneously answered.

“Are you guys like… dat- dating?”

“I don’t think so? Did this morning count as a date, Yuuta-kun?”

“We were disturbed by Takanashi-san so I don’t think so, speaking of which… Takanashi-san? Would you like to join us instead of only listening in?”

“I wasn’t listening in! But thanks for the invitation.”

“That’s right. You guys had breakfast together this morning.” Isshiki said while Rikka joined them.

“Yeah, but nothing happened between them.” Rikka said.

“See! You were spying on us!” Yuuta exclaimed.

“I was not. I just happened to notice it.”

“Yeah, like you just happened to be at a café at the exact opposite from the way to the station from our apartment complex.”

“Wait, Yuuta-kun, you and Takanashi-san are neighbours?”

“Yeah, she lives above me.”

“That’s an unfair advantage.”

“They really are fighting over you it seems.” Ishikki whispered to Yuuta.

“Yeah, but at least one of them has an outside motive.”

“What do you mean?”

“One of them is insane. Let’s just keep it at that.”

“Why are you so secretive? You don’t talk about your past either.”

“Reasons, you wouldn’t care, believe me.”

“We’re friends, I care… but I do feel inclined to say no homo.”

“Thanks?”

“What do you think Yuuta-kun?” their secret conversation interrupted.

“Think of what?”

“Weren’t you listening?”

“No?”

“Never mind then. Jeez, you should really listen to me when I speak, since I’m so much smarter than you.”

“Are you trying to suffocate us with that massively inflated ego?”

“If I said yes, what would you do?”

“Search for a needle.”

Glare. Two glares?

“Takanashi-san, why are you glaring at me?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Mind telling me them?”

“I would mind.”

“Could you stop?”

“Sure.” And she got up and left.

“Uh… Ok then? Shinka can you maybe explain?”

“If you wish to know you’ll have to ask her. But later she might kill you if you go now.”

Sighing, Yuuta turned to Isshiki and asked: “Happy you joined us for lunch?” making the others laugh.

“Anyway, let’s eat.”

* * *

 

The three demons she had just fought were disintegrating. She came here to get rid of her anger, and those three were the victims she found. Their bodies completely mutilated, her angry had not disappeared.

“Damn him to hell. Why doesn’t he listen!”

She ran off, searching for more victims, more blood to spill. His powers had grown already. He hadn’t done any training, but he had grown. It didn’t make sense.

If this continues he really will end up hurting someone. But he doesn’t listen. He’s too damn busy trying to get into that girls pants.

Ah well… if he grows strong enough, and he ends up hurting someone, she’ll at least have an excuse for turning him into a corpse.

His existence concerned her though. Someone that grows stronger without needing to train. Someone she knows from before this life. Those things aren’t the greatest combination. They usually indicate exiled users. Or family members of those users.

The words from her sister too on that night. The panicked questioning whether she had taken him with her top the Otherworld. There was something special about that boy. She feared she might have set something terrible free. Something strong enough to make her sister panic. To be honest, underneath the madness of her stigma, she was scared. She had never been scared before.

And it was fear she was now fighting. It hung over her like a dark shadow. She needed to prove she was the stronger one. So she searched and killed, killed and searched. Many a demon and angel had fallen to her, and that won’t end anytime soon in this life, or the next.

Her axe slammed into the skull of an angel she ran past.

She would become stronger.

Stronger than her sister.

Stronger than anyone.

Stronger than the gods themselves.

That was her madness.

That was the madness of the Wicked Eye.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter. I don't know what I was thinking while writing this one. This is easily one of the oddest chapters I wrote, yet. It's something I had difficulty writing, but I don't like backpedaling, so here it is again. Apparently AO3 has a rich text editor, so I've been wasting time dumping html tags in my writing. Great! Also, I used anyway way too much.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	5. A Revelation

**04: A Revelation**

A week had passed since then. Although she most likely wouldn’t want to admit it, we had formed our own private clique. We all had made some friends outside our group. Me and Isshiki hung a lot with the guys, and Nibutani had made some female friends to counteract our presence, and she… well you can probably guess the answer. And although all that happened, in school, we were very likely to be seen together. And no one else could fit. We were a pretty weird group. The social outcast, Rikka (although she’d never admit to being part of our group), the beauty queen, Nibutani, the clown, Isshiki and me, the one without the smartass title.

Me and Nibutani had met in the morning again at the end of last week, but were (sadly) interrupted by the Eye demon, Rikka. So breakfast for 3, which now I think about it, sounds pretty good. Get your head out of the ditch though writer-san. So today, the Monday of the second school week, Nibutani and I decided to meet up after school, after doing the inventory of the school labs we had to do because of our class rep jobs and we also travelled to the next district. In hope we would not get bothered.

Not considering the fact that there seemed to be a connection between us, she said she had to talk about something important too. Something that didn’t seem to have anything to do with what I hoped we’d discuss tonight.

First thought when we walked into the restaurant. Fancy. Too damn fancy.

“You’re not expecting me to pay for tonight right?” I ask in exasperation.

“No no, my family has some connections here. It’s free.”

“Are you some kind of princess?”

“Something like that.”

“Wait, what?”

“Just wait. It’s a long story and you’ll need something to drink, believe me.”

“We can’t drink. We’re underage.”

“That, my friend, is true, sadly enough.”

“Shinka-san, you seem to be going through a personality change, do you happen to be on your peri---”  
Note, speaking with a fist jammed in your face, is not easy.

“Am not, Yuuta-kun. Sheesh, making me break my lady like demeanour.” She answered with a glint in her eyes.

Pheww, some of her old way of acting seems to still exist. Before I could answer however we were interrupted by a butler.

“Nibutani-sama and guest, would you please follow me to your private diner room?”

She waves a dismissive signal. “Thank you Nigel, but I can find it myself.”

The butler walks away, slightly offended. “My name’s not Nigel.” I hear him mutter quietly.

“Now Yuuta, if you would follow me.”

“Sure, Nibutani-sama?”

“Don’t even go there. We’re first name basis remember?” she says, slightly pleadingly and looking kind of solemn.

“Sure. Lead the way Shinka-san.” I hesitantly correct myself.

Her eyes steel for a second, then they soften again, and with a sigh she motions me to follow her.

We walk through the restaurant, between tables full of fancily dressed people. I felt very misplaced in my uniform but Shinka strutted through the restaurant full of grace, she seemed… at home.

She opened a red velvet curtain revealing a Japanese styled sliding door. Opening it, she motioned me inside.

A square room, Japanese styled, with a small terrace giving us a look to the small garden and the darkness outside. In one of the corners a low table and a couple of sitting pillows were stowed away and in the middle, breaking the iconic Japanese style, was a table with two fancy chairs just like in the restaurant.

“I don’t like the whole sitting on the floor thing.” Nibutani says.

“That must be difficult for your family to accept. With you being the heir to the throne and all.”

“I’m not a princess, not quite at least. But as close as you can get in modern day Japan probably.”

“Yeah, so I’m going to be murdered by a secret intelligence agency or something, right?”

“No, just, sit down. I’ll explain everything over dinner.”

“Okay.”

We walked toward the table and I followed her to her side of it, pulling out her chair.

“Quite the gentleman, Yuuta-kun.”

“This is still partially a date, right?”

“I think that’s for you to decide when you know the things I need to tell you. But I wouldn’t mind it being one.” She said smiling shyly.

Ignoring it, I sat down and motioned her to start her explanation.

“Uhm… well, where do I start?”

“Wherever you want to, I’ll ask questions when I don’t understand it.”

“Ok. Yuuta, have you decided what club to join yet?”

“No? Does this have anything to do with you being a princess?”

“It’ll be clearer soon, but ok, no club? I want you to join my circle.”

“Continue?”

“Well the circle is not really a club. It was made by me, ordered by the higher-ups of the Council.”

“Council?”

“OK, this isn’t going to work like this. I’ll tell the story, questions afterwards.”

“Fine.”

“Ok, first you need to know this. I know that you’re an ability user. I know because I’m an ability user as well. With proper training and guidance you might become one of the strongest to exist, judging from your growing strength from training with the Wicked Eye.”

“May I interject for a second?”

“Sure.” she sighs.

“I haven’t trained with Rikka.”

“Seriously? Than did you train on your own?”

“No.”

“Ok… that’s something we’ll discuss in a second then. One purpose of me inviting you was so that I could take over your training, instead of Takanashi-san. You see, while there is peace between my and Rikka’s faction, they lord over us because they have the strongest ability user of our time as an asset, namely Takanashi Tooka. Rikka’s elder sister. My faction is part of the temple council, with my father leading this and our home district and me being the  head miko. Or  head shrine maiden. It’s more of a ceremonial title, I received it because I’m simple the strongest within our temple. We, or I rather want you to join me, I mean us. You trained, as an asset, would tip the scales in our favour for the rest of your life probably.”

“Sounds interesting, although I don’t know if I want to be a political pawn. I’d rather be a player myself. But, what’s in it for me?”

“Me, for one.”

“So if I refuse, you leave. And it doesn’t disturb you that your used as an asset for negotiation?”

“No, and it was my choice. But let’s see, free training, payment for slaying invaders from the Otherworld, if you wanted you could probably take over from my father after a decade or so.”

“Ok… anything else?”

“The other reason we want you in our sphere of influence is because there’s a suspicion that you might be another servant of someone called the Dark Flame Master. The Wicked Eye was one as well although their memories are sealed.”

“That name doesn’t ring a bell. Their memories?”

“The memories of the previous holders of the Eye. Specifically the ones of their Master.”

“What happened to that black flame god person?”

“He was beaten by Touka, or so they say, when she was about our age, though because of her strength she ages slower, being sixteen then and only twenty-seven now, although it happened before we were born.”

“How does that even work?”

“Do you know how aging works?”

“With cell splitting, our telomeres get shorter until they’re gone, and then cell dividing stops.”

“And you know that ability users regenerate quicker due to their mana.”

“Yes?”

“Simply put, her regeneration is fast enough that she actually regenerates her telomeres. Not fast enough to completely stop the aging process, but still, she’s the only one who is visibly years younger. Also shows you how strong she is.”

“Do you have that?”

“Yes, but accumulated, it was only a week or so over the past 10 years.”

“So you’ve been training since you were six?”

“That’s usually the time when powers start showing. For some reason yours didn’t. That’s one of the reasons we suspect you being a servant of that person.”

“Well, Rikka did say that I might kill someone if I don’t train, and I’d rather train with you, so I’ll join your circle. The other matters will have to wait, let me contemplate them a bit. For now tell me some more about the political background stuff, ‘cause I’m pretty certain I might be killed by you and your faction.”

She opened her mouth, but we were interrupted by ‘Nigel’ the butler.

“Ma’am, sir, are you ready to order?”

“As appetizer, the soup of the day, main course would be steak, with French fries preferably and dessert, Yuuta?”

“I don’t even know what they have here!”

“Just guess something.”

“FINE, milkshakes then.”

“Milkshakes it is. You got that Nigel?”

The butler bows and leaves grumbling.

“I don’t think his name is Nigel, Shinka-san.”

“Really? He never said anything about it.”

“That’s probably because your father pays his salary.”

“That’s not true. My father is simply the leader of the temples in this district and our district. This restaurant is owned by ability users under our jurisdiction, that’s the reason he obeys me, he is technically my underling, although I’m not directly affiliated with the person who pays him.”

‘Nigel’ re-entered bringing us two plates of steaming hot, tomato cream soup.

“Thank you Nigel.”

“You’re doing it on purpose now, Shinka-san.” I said.

“I’m not, if he has a problem with it he should say something about it instead of keeping quiet.”

“When was the last time you complained to someone who could command you around at a whim?”

“Uhm… alright, fine. Next time, I’ll ask his name.”

“Ok, now tell me about your order that you want me to join.”

“Well, I would be your commander. You see, our strongest member leads our forces when in battle, however our smarter members strategize and deal with the politics of the Temple Council. Sometimes both are the same people, like my father was before I was born and trained. Skills over succession is the rule though, so you can grow in political power as well.”

“Ok, but what’s this Temple Council?”

“The Temple Council is the political counterweight to the Organization, that’s situated in Europe, with Rome being it’s centre for a long time, recently it moved though, to get away from the link with Catholicism. Anyway, the Temple Council is the union of all the temple leaders. It’s basically a governmental body similar to the European union… no, rather like the old Roman Senate because they’re all trying to grab more power. We do have a president though.”

“Ok, next question is for after the soup, else it’s cold, and I’m pretty sure most people could live for a week from what this plate cost.”

“Slight overstatement. More like 3 days.”

“Still a retarded amount of money for such a thing like a scoop of damn soup.”

“Fine fine.” She started gobbling down the soup with some breadsticks.

I joined her happily, it was expensive, but delicious too. We quickly finished the one ladleful of soup and ‘Nigel’ came in to clear our plates. He quickly scuffled of again but Nibutani stopped him in his tracks.

“Nigel, someone told me that your name might not be Nigel. Could you tell me what it is then?”

“My name is actually Walter madam.”

“Are you British Walter?”

“No, but my mother is.”

“Ok thank you, Ni- Walter.”

“Thank you, Nibutani-sama, Togashi-sama.” And he left.

“And apparently I’m no longer a guest here.”

“No, you already got his vote. You’re a monster of a person Yuuta. You have the ability to put people in positions where they wish to serve you. You’re a very domineering person.”

“Do you wish that? Also domineering? What am I? A dictator?”

“In some ways, probably. But I refuse to listen to you as long as you’re weaker. And that’s not what I meant idiot.”

“And I’m guessing we’ll test who’s stronger at some point?”

“Yes, but first I’ll train you a bit, so you don’t accidently hurt anyone.”

Walter walked in with their dinners.

“Ah Walter, impeccable timing. How far into your training are you?”

“I’m cleared for solo fighting ma’am.”

“You have your own weapon then?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Might you show it to your peer?”

“As you command ma’am.”

“Vanishment this world.”

And the world fell around them.

* * *

 

A dark, stormy sky above, the ground covered with metal plates nailed into the ground.

I stood about 5 meters from Walter, who had some crystal like knives in one hand and a short blade in the other about 50 centimetres long. Nibutani was still sitting at the table, eating her steak.

“It seems to fit you Walter. Now could you spar with Togashi-sama?”

I gave her a panicked look and quickly summoned the boken, just in time to block one of the knives speeding towards me.

“Bloodless summoning? Impressive Yuuta-kun. Where’d you get the sword?”

“Killed an angel last week.”

“With help?”

“None at all.”

“Interesting.”

Walter stepped forward and flashed out of existence, and then I felt the slam of a blade in the back of my neck and that was that. I blacked out and fell.

* * *

 

I blinked my eyes open. I was back in the restaurant, sprawled on the floor. Nibutani still sat where she had been sitting all the time, sipping from a milkshake.

“That was slightly disappointing, but you have potential.”

“Ok, when’s training starting? I hate losing.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll text you where you should be for our first circle meeting.” She finished her drink and sat down next to me, carefully coordinating the movements of her skirt.

“Where’s my food anyway?”

“No food for the losers, but since this technically was a date, you do get this.” And she leaned in to quickly give me a glancing kiss. She then got up and walked away.

“Walter has made arrangements for transportation for you back home. See you tomorrow Yuuta-kun.”

She left me dazed.

Partially recovering from my shock, I got up as well, and followed Walter to a taxi. I was driven home, and got in my bed.

“What the hell was this evening!?” I screamed from the top of my longues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Publish dates are officially wrong now. They probably were before, but I have no clue when this was written, and I'm actually annoyed by this writing style now. This also the last chapter were these notes were written now and not when the chapter was published. I'll see you in a couple of years then!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	6. The Start Of Something

**05: The Start Of Something**

“Ah, Yuuta-kun, welcome.” She said raising herself from the middle of the pentagram where she had been kneeling. The pentagram seemed scratched into the floor with a knife.

“You’re early, I wasn’t quite ready purifying the room yet, but by all means stay, just don’t disturb me and try focusing on my energy.”

“Is that part of the training as well Shinka?”

“I’ll explain later, else the rest will be here before we’re ready.” she answered whilst returning to her meditative pose in the middle of the pentagram.

Simply dropping down next to the door, Yuuta started intensely staring at Shinka. Her soft lips, glistening lightly from her lip-gloss, her supple neck, her slowly moving chest, ---- His thoughts were stopped.

Smiling lightly Shinka was looking judgingly at him with one opened eye. “I said focus on my energy, and not my body. Have you no self-control?”

“Uhm… no. Yes. Maybe? I’m sorry!” Yuuta reacted, blushing furiously, he redirected his focus to a spot just above her head. With a sigh Shinka resumed her seemingly useless meditation. He didn’t dare let his vision shift for five minutes, and then she suddenly got up. She walked towards him and set herself down next to him.

Resting her head on his shoulder she said: “So? Before we go to the serious thing, let’s talk about the serious thing before we get interrupted again. Are we dating now?”

“Well you did kiss me right?”

“Yes.”

“So it’s my choice?”

“Yes.”

“And this doesn’t mean I agree with the other conditions, right?”

“No.”

“OK, then the choice is simple.” He softly grabbed her chin and planted a firm yet inexperienced kiss on her lips.

She softly giggled. “Well, I’m happy with your choice. You do, however, need a lot of practice.” She leaned in for another kiss, but then the door slammed open and a blond longhaired middle school student rolled inside, and rose afterwards with skill. She bowed slightly to Nibutani and gave a curt nod to Yuuta.

“Where’s the Wicked Eye?” the voice was warm and soft, and it had a distant regal tone.

“Not here yet.” Nibutani answered the newcomer

“Great. Who’s the pipsqueak?” and her voice turned colder and the regal tone increased.

Yuuta rose in defiance and opened his mouth when he felt a cold spot against his chin. The middle school student had closed the gap and pulled a heavy smith’s hammer from somewhere which was now resting against his chin.

Nibutani sighed. “Must you always introduce yourself like that Dekomori Sanae?”

The middle school student retracted the hammer, and let the oak handle slide into a small leather loop at her waist. She grinned broadly and trotted to the window where she stopped and looked outside. Yuuta threw a look of utter confusion at Nibutani.

“Her I’ll explain later. But you asked about the pentagram earlier, simply put, it cleanses the area inside of mana particles, so we can summon and maintain our weapons, armours and so on within its borders. In fact, why don’t you summon your sword and show it to Dekomori.”

“Fine.” He extended his hand within the borderline and summoned the weapon. The bright yet black flash made Dekomori turn around. He extended the handle to her and she grabbed it swiftly. She sat down, and started intently studying the weapon. With a short wave of her hand she indicated Yuuta had to sit across from her. He glanced at Nibutani and after she nodded he sat down as asked.

When he sat down, the girl gave him back the weapon, which he let rest on his knees.

She looked at Nibutani, “Can I start?”

“Sure, I guess. The others are late after all. But introduce yourself first though.”

“Fine.” Her eyes shifted and focused on him again. “Hi. I’m Dekomori Sanae. Best ability user/smith on this globe. I’ll be one of your instructors. I’ll be teaching you how to maintain and craft your equipment. Why am I doing this you ask? Two reasons. The first, Rikka seems to have taken an interest in you. Secondly, late bloomers usually prove to be excellent craftsmen and I could use a decent apprentice for once.” Her tone balanced between the cold, regal one and the softer, warmer one. He felt her weighing his worth.

“Ok. I’m Togashi Yuuta, nice to meet you.”

“Ok, listen up. That weapon of yours is trash. Grade A trash, but trash nonetheless. Where did you get it?”

“I killed an angel and received it from him.”

“Ah, that explains a lot.”

“How so?”

“Well, the explanation would make more sense after you’ve had some experience with smithing, but I’ll try. Simply put, the metal isn’t folded and rather weak. When demons or humans smith we fold the metal multiple times to make it stronger. Angels, however, don’t smith. They form weapons using their magic, and the younger or weaker the angel the weaker their weapons.”

“From what I’ve heard so far, demons and humans seem very similar.”

“Well, not really. Demons are indefinitely more natural at forging. Only our greatest smiths, like me, would be better than theirs, and that’s only because we launch attacks at their forges every once in a while to kill their better smiths.”

“How do we stand a chance against their weapons then.”

“Because our better smiths can infuse the mana of the user into the weapons, making them stronger when the user channels mana through them and making it easier to use our mana as well.”

“Will those weapons be stronger without mana application as well?”

“Depends on how strong and how much mana the user channels into the ‘weapon’ during the crafting of it. Rikka for example has an axe, made by me, and that thing can easily cleave through the strongest demon steel. In all aspects, Rikka is a monster.”

“And her sister is even stronger?”

“Currently yes, but a part of the powers of the Wicked Eye lies sealed in Rikka’s memories, which she can’t or rather is not allowed to access. If anything would happen to the barriers in her mind she would most likely be as strong as her sister, but possibly quite unstable and thus a danger for everyone.”

“Could you craft me a blade?”

“Especially for you? Not yet, but I might, eventually, depending on how your training goes. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

“Excuse you for what?”

“I’m borrowing this,” She picked up the sword lying on his legs, “and it just might break.”

“Wait what!?” he exclaimed while she got up and positioned herself facing the window. He started getting up to retrieve his blade but at that moment the glass of the window shattered and he was pushed down by the blast.

He heard Nibutani yell, “Goddamnit, you’re fixing this, you hear me!?” He didn’t know who invaded the room, which was luckily far from where any normal student would be hanging out at this hour, but he could make a fair guess. When the smoke cleared, he was proven right, when he saw Rikka suspended in the air. She had slammed what seemed to be a woodcutter’s hatchet overhead and Dekomori had it blocked with Yuuta’s blade.

“What trash are you holding there Rikka? Even this blade can cut into it?” Dekomori exclaimed, obviously appalled by the weapon the other girl held. Yuuta now saw that his sword had dug a quarter inch into the wooden handle of the hatchet.

Rikka landed and they disengaged. She responded, “I wasn’t sure if you had the time to make the thing I requested and he promised someone to take care of the blade so…”

“Of course I finished your request, is your opinion of me that low? The thing you asked me to make was finished within a couple of hours.”

“Have you given it yet?”

“No, when you start his training I’ll give it, and that might not even be today.”

“True.”

“Oi, pipsqueak, catch!” Dekomori threw the blade toward Yuuta, and he dexterously caught it from mid-air.

“He does seem to possess a certain ability.” Dekomori said. “He succeeded in killing an angel so that has to be true.” Nibutani interjected.

The other two girls nodded in agreement.

“One last person and we are complete.”

As if on cue, the door slid open.

“Evening everyone, now who’s the pupil---- Yuuta, what the hell are you doing here?” Isshiki exclaimed in surprise.

“He’s the pupil.” Nibutani said.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Yuuta interjected this time.

“Well… that’s surprising.”

“Talk about this later, will you guys?” Nibutani basically commanded. Isshiki glared but complied, Yuuta simply closed his mouth.

The four other gathered in front of Yuuta.

“Could you please kneel, Yuuta.”

“Why?”

“It’s a ceremony, you will pledge to follow our guidance and rules whenever we are training you, this is to protect yourself and us.”

“Explain?”

“Well, if you don’t listen, and happened to lash out uncontrollably, we might be forced to hurt, or even kill you if we evaluated your strength and growth correctly.”

“And this pledge will make me obey?”

“No, like I said, it’s just a ceremony. Honour your teachers, or obliterate yourself, are basically your choices.”

“You didn’t tell me about this!” Yuuta exclaimed, he felt himself losing his cool.

“See, this losing your cool is why we ask this of you. No matter how useless you feel the assignment is, or how frustrating it is, you need to obey. Emotions are the key to unlocking your strength.”

“Of course it is. What is this to you, some kind of anime?” Something was loosening inside of him.

“Yuuta, calm down, you must sense it just as much as we do now, your anger is increasing the flow of your mana.”

Clenching his teeth, he breaths in deeply through his nose and then slowly blows it back out again. He could feel the flow within him lessening.

“Good. Are you ready to do the ceremony now?”

“Sure.” He was still agitated, and his spirit was restless yet. He knelt, setting himself in a relaxed manner.

Nibutani started speaking, but Yuuta wasn’t listening. His curiosity had won, and he turned inward, mentally trying to follow the paths his mana flowed. Instantly he was confused. He didn’t feel a single flow of mana, but sensed several, and not just different channels for the same mana, no, every single vein contained something else. He thought this might be the different affinities Rikka had been talking about, but he didn’t think there’d be different systems for every element.

Secondly, he was unable to find a source. He had found a point where they all intersected, but there wasn’t anything there. It was like looking through a lens of some sort, something that clouded his vision, made him unable to tap into that source, that thing that was making him feel so invigorated right now. He reached out but was at that moment pulled out of his contemplation by Nibutani.

“Do you pledge?” She asked once more, and he felt the last of his powers lay themselves to rest.

“I guess I do. You’ve made it pretty clear I don’t really have a choice.” Yuuta answered. His mana may not be running rampant any longer, he was still pretty agitated, even if he was pledging obedience to his girlfriend.

“Well with that behind us, we can start your training.”

“Great. How?”

Rikka and Dekomori jumped outside through the windows, Dekomori calling out that Nibutani should contact them when he was ready to get their tutelage. Isshiki sat himself in a corner and silently observed the two people left. Nibutani knelt in front of Yuuta.

“Hi.” Yuuta sarcastically said.

“I know you don’t like to be tied down, but the pledge is definitely necessary in your case. You probably didn’t notice it, but Dekomori and Makoto, who didn’t know about your strength almost jumped you already.”

Astonished, Yuuta looked at the person he considered his best friend, and Isshiki nodded slightly.

“It’s nothing personal Yuuta. In my line of work you are either overcautious, or your dead.”

“Your line of work?”

“Guys, later, we’ll go to dinner afterward Yuuta, and Makoto can join us for a small while to discuss these issues with you but we only have an hour or so before they start locking down this building. And not to make anyone feel anxious, but Yuuta is relatively quite strong for someone who only weeks ago awakened their powers, and could quite possible blow up the bigger part of his apartment without realizing.”

“I’m well aware Nibutani, I was briefed by my commander, and now I get why I was specially selected by you. But what bothers me is, that I almost never sense anything from Yuuta, and never anything quite like when he awakened either. In fact, I didn’t sense anything ‘till now and when he summoned his weapon, I presume at least.”

“That’s true, he has remarkable control over his mana, being capable of bloodless summoning, which is a very rare ability.”

“Could you maybe stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Yuuta interrupted.

“Right, got off track myself there, thank you, Yuuta-kun. Isshiki-san, we’ll add this to the topics for over dinner, alright?”

“Naturally.”

“Alright, Yuuta, you ready?”

“As far as I can be without knowing what you’re planning to do.”

* * *

 

“Damnit!” Yuuta exclaimed, losing control over his frustrations and he felt his mana lashing out toward the board. The board was thrown into the air, and a light electric shock passed by Nibutani, curving around her like she was protected. A small crater now existed where the chessboard had been.

While trying to regain control over his emotions he reminisced about how this had started. Nibutani had transferred them to the Other World, and instructed him to try and relive his agitation. And he tried.

It took a couple of minutes, but the annoyance that he was unable to do as instructed eventually helped him reach his goal. He felt his mana course through his body once more.

“Alright Yuuta, now I’m going to ask you to grasp that mana. Don’t worry if you do not succeed immediately, no one has.”

He closed his eyes again and tentatively reached out for the arteries filled with his might.

“Try following your mana to its source, and grab hold there.”

He opened his mouth, wanting to mention that his source was hidden or blocked or something, but something stopped him. The veins contracted, collapsed into each other, turning into the blackest black, blacker even then his flames were once.

“Keep it a secret.” A voice whispered in his head “Simply grab a vein.”

The arteries regained their original form, and he decided to listen to that voice, although if asked why, he wouldn’t know. He started studying the mana flowing through each of the veins. One of them felt familiar. And he grasped that. And then there had been pain. He fell to his knees. His body seemed to swell, making his skin itch, and just as soon as it started, it ended. A last shiver ran throughout his entire person, ending in his hands. A couple of small sparks jumped around on his hands.

Nibutani reacted to the sight, “Lightning huh… that’s quite odd considering---”

“My sword is lightning based, right?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“It felt… familiar.”

“Right… Anyway, can you now access your mana without having to become pissed?”

“Let me try.” He stood up, and focused again. Instantly he noticed the change. The place where he suspected his core was, he now saw a small hole surrounded by cracks, like someone had used a pickaxe to break the walls between him and his center. The white blueish mana he had used just now was trickling through those cracks, and he mentally extended inward, grasped the energy and started pulling. The trickle became a flow, nearly overwhelming him once more. Again small sparks shot from his hands.

“Wow, Yuuta-kun, not many people can do this that easily, most take a couple of weeks to access their mana once, and the second time they’d still need another three or four days.”

“Thanks, I guess, they probably didn’t have such an amazing teacher.”

“I didn’t teach you anything yet, Yuuta, you suckup. Anyway, now comes the hard part for you, for where you have power, you have no control.”

“And how will you teach me to control my own might?”

“For now, with this.” She answered, as Isshiki handed her a chess set.

And then his torture had begon. The chess set had been enchanted. First off, you needed to channel small amounts of mana in pieces to make them move, different for every piece. Secondly, any excess mana, made the pieces disobey his orders and was used to retaliate against him with small shocks. The first game he lost in 3 moves, and during the rest he didn’t fare much better. This last game however, went pretty well, until he got excited when he found an opening in Nibutani’s strategy, losing control again and his pieces rebelled, granting Nibutani an easy victory. And then he got angry.

“Alright alright, Yuuta, calm down, let’s call it a day.”

“No damnit, I refuse to lose or at least to keep losing.”

“Well, tough luck for you, time’s up. They’re closing the building in a couple of minutes.”

“Damnit… can I borrow the chess set to practice?”

“No, no unsupervised training for you just yet. Isshiki-san, if you will?”

“Fine, I’ll clean up, ojou-sama.”

“Are you still butthurt that your practically my minion for the rest of Yuuta’s training?”

“Yes, technically I should rank higher than you, but since your Temple lords over the rest, power is more important than experience.”

“Yes, and the reason why is pretty clear in this case, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Makoto grumbles.

“Can you maybe explain it to me then?” Yuuta asked.

Meanwhile they shifted back into the real world.

“Well, if your mana runs rampant, and you start blasting people, I will most likely be the only one that can keep you from destroying a small district.”

He stared at her in astonishment. “I really doubt I’m that strong.”

“You are, although you haven’t really shown it yet, which is odd… it’s like you’re limited to only a small bit of your power. But we’ll blame that on you being a late-bloomer.”

“Have there been any other late-bloomers that have had this issue?”

“No, but then again, most late-bloomers don’t even come close to your power. When you first awakened there was a huge shock in our community. We were pretty sure a demonic or angelic Lord was passing over. The signature disappeared very rapidly though. Most didn’t think any of it, but I was close so I suspected something. And when you reappeared with Takanashi-san shortly after, I drew my own conclusions.”

“And that’s why you showed interest in me in the first place, right?”

“Yes, although that changed after getting to know you.”

“Well, it’s always fun when you find out people sought you out because you had power.”

“Yuuta, are seriously going to act like a child now?”

“Aren’t I a child in comparison to my mighty mentors?”

“To some maybe. I’m pretty sure you could best Isshiki.”

“Alright OJOU-SAMA, if you’re going to pick a fight I won’t refuse!” Makoto yelled whilst he picked up the final piece of the chess set.

“Settle down, Yuuta is aware I’m not serious.”

“Still!”

“Oh, pipe down, or you can pay your own dinner.”

“Fine.”

“So, we off?”

“I’m ready.” Yuuta said, “Sure.” Makoto chimed in.

* * *

 

They were sitting in the same room as where Nibutani and Yuuta had dined last time. Walter had jumped up immediately when he saw them enter. Last time they were in the restaurant the daily routine had been broken dramatically, and he hoped for the same once more.

He was thoroughly disappointed when he was asked to disturb them as less as he was capable of. The two mentors and the pupil made their orders and Walter left the room.

“Alright, what do you want to talk about first?” Nibutani asked the two boys.

“What is it you do Isshiki?”

“I’m a spy. We infiltrate organisations like rival temples to find information, weaknesses, political instability and so on. My clan has the ability to reject our mana systems infusing them almost completely in our weapons, making us appear very weak and practically unnoticeable.”

“Doesn’t that mean that you’d be incredibly vulnerable without your weapon?”

“Yes, that’s why we are all expert hand-to-hand combatants, and most of our weapons are very hard to get knocked out of our hands. A good example would be my brass knuckles.”

“Hmm… alright. And what is it you’re going to teach me?”

“Hand-to-hand combat of course.”

“And you Nibutani?”

“I will teach you to control your mana. Spellcraft if you will. When you have basic control over your mana the others will start training you as well.”

“And what will Rikka be teaching me?”

“Fighting with most kinds of weapons, mostly swords and axes probably.”

“Huh… alright. Nibutani, what do you use to fight anyway?”

“My main weapon is a spear, for ranged attacks I sometimes use a crossbow too.”

“Interesting.”

“Yuuta, do you mind if I discuss some peculiarities connected to you in private with Isshiki?”

“Can I go fight with Walter again?”

“You think you can beat him already?”

“No, but I’m curious as to how much this training has helped.”

“Sure, I’ll call him in.” She rung a small hand bell and Walter slid the door open immediately. “Ah Walter, would you spar with Togashi-sama for a bit?”

“Of course, my lady.” He replied. Yuuta got up from the table and walked over to Walter.

“You ready, young sir?” Walter asked extending a hand.

“Naturally.” Yuuta grinned and clasped the hand.

They shifted.

* * *

 

A small island in the middle of lake was the setting this time. The sun was blazing down onto them, glistening beautifully on the lake. Neither had eyes for the scenery though. They took several steps from each other and both summoned their weapons smoothly, with or without blood.

“May the best man win, Togashi-sama.”

“He most probably will, Walter.”

Yuuta grasped his mana and it found its way to his sword. Sparks started shooting across the blade.

“Come now!”

Walter threw several knifes at Yuuta, who instead of dodging or deflecting, made a long arcing slash. Sparks shot from the blade, shattering the crystal knives, which Yuuta now realized were made of ice.

Again Walter stepped and faded from his view, this time however, Yuuta was prepared. He blocked the slash, letting Walter’s blade skid of the surface of his, knocking it over Yuuta’s head. As Walter lost balance, Yuuta tried jabbing an elbow into his ribs, which Walter prevented with a palm strike on Yuuta’s upper arm.

Walter regained his balance and Yuuta used the short respite to turn around and face his opponent.

“Better than last time already, Togashi-sama.”

“Like that would work twice.”

“I felt like giving you a chance.”

“How sweet.” Yuuta exclaimed, slashing toward his adversary.

Blocking the slash easily with his sword, Walter attempted to stab Yuuta with an ice knife. Yuuta blocked with his arm but was thanked with a long cut. He disengaged his weapon and tried a stab, which was deflected. Not giving up, Yuuta immediately tried to follow up with a slash aiming at Walter’s left wrist.

Under a spell of luck he succeeded, forcing Walter to leave his ice knifes behind.

“Good slash Togashi-sama.” Walter praised. “However, you’ve left yourself wide open now.” He then slammed his right fist into Yuuta’s side, heavily loaded with mana, and Yuuta flew several meters before rolling over the ground. Grunting he struggled upright.

“And that would be enough from you two!” Nibutani suddenly appeared, keeping them from clashing once more.

“Yuuta, Isshiki is eating in the restaurant so come back so we can have some alone time.” She then noticed the cut on Walter’s wrist.

“Let your guard down, Walter?”

“Not really, ma’am. He attempted something no sane fighter would do and that is the reason he is currently trying to crawl from the ground. Still he lasted long enough for you to stop this fight so, he has improved.”

“I guess he has.”

“Let him rest for a bit here, he should be okay in a couple of minutes.”

“Thank you Walter.”

Yuuta dropped to the ground again, sitting down, and Nibutani joined him.

“At least he didn’t knock you out this time.”

“I’m still weak.”

“You’ll get there Yuuta-kun.” She kissed him softly. “Don’t forget that there are other things that should interest you beside training, fighting and winning.”

“Never, my mentor wouldn’t let me.” He grinned, answering her kiss with one of his own.

“No, she wouldn’t.” she answered smiling. “You however need training in this area still.” She kissed him again.

“Gladly.” He tried to kiss her again but she stopped him.

“First mana control, then this.”

“Why?” He asked with a pouty face.

“Because when you’re not in control of your mana, strong emotions might just make you blow stuff up on accident.”

“Goddammit.”

“Goddammit indeed.” She inclined with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a new chapter. I'm very very sorry for the delay. I'm a lazy person and have been putting of writing for a while, I lost interest after struggling with this chapter for a while. Today I however said I'd finish the chapter and so I did. Now, it's currently about 4 am, and I am pulling an all nighter (I'll probably start on the next chapter as soon as this note is done). This probably means there will be some more spelling and grammatical errors then usual. I'll most likely dump a revised edition somewhere in the weekend that fixes most (hopefully). Anyway, I thank you for your continued interest in my writing. I'd love to hear what you think so leave a review if you wish to help me improve the story and my own writing. And as always
> 
> Thanks for reading


	7. How To Make Progress

**06: How To Make Progress**

“It’s killing you isn’t it, Yuuta?” she said grinning broadly.

“No, of course not!” He lied through his teeth, letting his head slump after another lost match of chess.

“It’s nothing you should feel bad about, I am, after all, a Temple War Leader. Strategizing whilst on the battlefield is kind of my job description.”

“Still, I thought that, with being able to control my mana and all, I’d be able to beat you at least once.”

“You do seem to have a rudimentary sense for strategy, it is underdeveloped however. Something we could always work on, if and when necessary.”

“True… So, am I finally ready for the next step?”

“Yuuta, you do realize that most people train for a year before they are able to exert the control you do, right?”

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean I have to be that slow right. Come on Nibutani, I want to beat Walter sometime soon.”

Nibutani sighs. “You are aware he holds back a great deal, right?”

“Of, of course I did…” Yuuta replied sullenly.

“You still suck at lying.” She chuckled. “But yes, I do think you’re ready for your next step. I’ll give you your training roster tomorrow on our date. But for now, do you want to practice hand-to-hand combat with sleepyhead over there, or actually use some mana with me?”

“Most definitely you, Shinka. Then I can surprise Isshiki during our training by blasting some magic in his face.”

“Doubt that’ll work, but by all means try.” She said with a smile.

He shows a broad smile.

“Well… what to learn you… Could you pull as much mana as you can? Then I can see what you might be able to do.”

“Alright.” He was still connected with his mana, so he immediately started amassing power.

She studied him intensely, he had grown much in a week, he could fine-tune his mana as good as, if not better than most that get taught some basic spells. The grass swayed lightly under him now. The air crackled lightly around him.

“Ok this is all I can pull, for now.”

As always he didn’t disappoint, his power rivalled that of a Captain-Commandant, though he most likely would not be able to beat one for… well she’d like to say several years but in his case, probably at most three months.

“Ok, you can let it go now. Do keep it at a level where you can easily hold it, without focussing too much.”

His power signature dropped quite a bit, staggering at about 40 percent. Now that’s something special. He might just need 1 month to beat a Captain-Commandant.

“Alright. I have a bit of affinity in lightning, so spells at your level I can demonstrate… It would be handy to have Rikka around for demonstrations though eventually. Well first, Walter told me you were able to charge your weapon already?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, good. Please do so for me.”

“Naturally.” He smoothly summoned his weapon, immediately his mana shot through the blade. Stronger sparks than before ran along the cutting edge.

Nibutani also summoned a weapon. A short spear appeared in her hand. A light brown-coloured handle, about 6 feet long, and a 2 feet long blade. Slightly beneath the blade a small lightning bolt had been burned into the wood.

“Is that your spear, Shinka? It looks a bit… well plain.”  He said.

“It’s just a practice spear, my own weapon is not really fine-tuned for lightning based spells.”

“Can I have one?”

“Sure, you interested in spears?”

“I want to learn as much as I can.”

“You’re always so eager. Anyway, how did you use it against Walter?”

“Like this!” He performed the slash once more, letting the crackling lighting whip through the sky.

“You could also do this, for a quick attack.” She charged her spear, thrusting is toward a tree. A bolt shot through the tree burning through it easily.

“Hmm… so like this?” He stabs his sword toward the same tree, a crackle filled the air as the bolt drilled into the tree, barely making it through.

“Great, yes, just like that.”

She then showed him some basic spells to use with or without his weapon. She sat down and watched him blast at trees, cutting them, and inflicting some damage. After 10 minutes of blasting he sighed.

“What is it, Yuuta?”

“I just thought that, with magic on my side, I’d be stronger now. At least able to defeat these damn trees.”

“Yuuta, you’re already further than I was at this point, and I was an unprecedented prodigy in our temple.”

“It’s still just your temple.”

“Yes, you’re right…” She responded slightly taken aback.

“I’m sorry… I’m just frustrated.”

“Yuuta, I know, you want to be stronger. But growth can’t be forced. These spells may not be that strong, but as you grow so will their strength, and you’ll become able to use more powerful ones as well.”

“I know, I know…”

“Want to call it a day for now?”

“I’d like to practice some more, but I think I’ve used up most of my mana, so it wouldn’t be of much use.”

“Alright. Next week, your training will start for real.”

* * *

 

Tiredly he walked into the apartment. While he was looking forward to the training, even just the bit today already tired him out. And then he has that date with Nibutani tomorrow, which will most likely exhaust him even more. Ah well… food and sleep is the goal now. He strolled into the living area greeting his family. His mom as motherly as ever, immediately pushed a heated up plate into his hands for dinner. He smiled and thanked her.

“Oh, don’t thank me. You’re doing the dishes.”

Crap. Ah well, side questing is fun right? He sat down next to his sister, who was lying face down on a math book.

“Brother?” She asked looking toward him, “Could you help me with my math homework?”

And more side questing. “Only if you help me with the dishes.”

“Deal.”

“Alright what’s the problem?”

“I just don’t get these equations.”

“Let me see.”

She shoved the book toward him and he started munching down his food while trying to decipher what his sister had written. The equations were rather simple, so he didn’t have any trouble to figure out what the answers were. He did have some trouble finding were his sister went wrong. Eventually, when he was done eating he found what she did wrong.

“See this, that should be a minus instead of a plus. You are making quite a lot of sign mistakes.”

“But it’s plus on that side!”

“Yes, so when you transfer it to the other side, it becomes a minus.”

“That’s odd.”

“How else would you be able to make the addend disappear here?”

“Uhm…”

“See, when you transfer an addend to the other side, you take it’s opposite.”

“Ok… wait wait… so… yes ok, that actually makes sense.”

“Alright, now dishes.”

“Can’t I first finish this while you watch over me?”

“Fine.” He sighs.

* * *

 

His phone alarm started going off. Early. Too early. He groaned as he twisted in his bed and tried to fall back asleep, without even shutting of the noise. A minute later his mom entered.

“Yuuta, you lazy bum! Get out of bed and shut of that noise. You asked me to wake you up so why did you even put up an alarm?”

“Because you always forget, mom!”

“Well… the only reason I did come in here was because of that hellish noise, but that doesn’t have anything to do with is. Now get your lazy bum into gear.” She said with a wink.

“Right…” he turned around lazily.

He heard his mother stepping to his bed and suddenly his whole world twisted and turned as the blanket he was wrapped in was brutally ripped  away. He landed with a thud on the ground.

“Are you going to get up now?” His mom asked ever so kindly.

“Yeah yeah, I’m getting up.”

“Good.” His mom left the room as he scrambled onto his feet. Sighing he took his nicest clothes out of his closet and shuffled toward the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

 

He left the bathroom completely awake half an hour later. Between showering, getting his wily hair under control, fighting his fatigue and getting into the monkey suit he was wearing. He quickly ran out, saying goodbye to his mother while slamming the door shut behind him. He ran down the stairs and stopped at the last step.

“You’re late Yuuta.” She said, blushing just a bit. She was wearing short hot pants, a blue shirt that only covered one of her shoulders, and what looked like a black bra from the visible strap. He stared for a bit before noticing she was carrying a small basket.

“Stop staring so much, and anyway why are you dressed up that much?”

“I- I- I- I thought we’d go do something fancy?”

“Why? Because I’m rich?”

“Yes…” he ashamedly admitted.

“We’re going to the park, and have a picnic that I prepared. Now get back up there and change.”

“Want to come along?”

“Yuuta, how easy do you think I am?”

“I’m just suggesting for you to get out the heat, dumbass.”

“Don’t call me dumbass, you asshole.”

“I like you too.” He responded, pulling her in for a kiss. She struggled a bit, but then leaned in and answered his kiss.

“Damn it Yuuta I was trying to be mad at you!”

“Sounds like you still are.” He smiled.

“Well… a bit. Alright alright, let’s just go upstairs, you can pamper me with an ice-cream and change your clothes.” She started going up the stairs.

“Ice-cream before food isn’t very healthy.” He followed.

“I don’t care, you’re my boyfriend, you’re supposed to pamper me.”

“Very true, but I’m not supposed to make you fat though.” He said poking her belly.

“Yuuta! I’m not fat. And if I ever become fat we’ll just have to train more and date less, prick.”

“You like insulting me today.”

“Well you are provoking me.”

“Very much true sweetie.”

“Don’t call me sweetie… yet.” She said as they reached the door. He looked behind him to see her blushing furiously.

“Alright, Shinka-san.” He entered the house.

“I’m back mom, and this is---“

“I’m Nibutani Shinka, nice to meet you. I’m uhm… Yuuta’s girlfriend.” She put down the picnic basket next to the front door

“Yuuta!” she gave himself a playful knock on his head. “You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend. You shouldn’t keep such a pretty girl a secret.”

“Thanks ma’am. But may I now kick your son’s ass cause he hasn’t told you about me?”

“Sure. His room is the second one on the right. Also don’t call me ma’am. Makes me sound so old.”

“Of course.” She grabbed his tie and started him dragging toward his room. She slammed the door open and threw him into the room. He stumbled in and fell against the closet.

“Explanation?”

“I just didn’t think of it yet? We’ve only been official for a week.”

“So? You didn’t tell it to anyone?” She seemed even angrier.

“I did, I bragged about against all the guys that the cutest person in our class was my girlfriend.”

“Class?”

“I, of course meant, in our school.”

“Good boy!” She patted him on the head and then pulled his chin up for a lingering kiss.

Breaking away, she said, “Alright, now shove over so I can check your closet for appropriate clothing.”

He got up and sat on the bed while she pulled open his closet. She started rummaging through it, starting at the top, standing on her toes. Slowly she worked downward, bending more over and over.

“Look, Yuuta, I’m well aware that my butt looks good in these pants, especially now. But I would however appreciate if you at least tried not to stare as much.”

“I’m sorry. I’m a healthy teenage boy, okay?”

“I’m well aware.” She twirled around and threw him some loose fitting jeans and a green shirt. “Now, get dressed.”

“Uhm… aren’t you going to leave?”

“I don’t mind if you do it in front of me.” She said teasingly.

“But I do.”

“I seem to remember someone promising me an ice-cream?”

“Right… if I give you your ice-cream are you going to let me get dressed in peace?”

“Not making any promises.”

“Great. Alright follow me, I’ll whip something up for you.”

* * *

 

She was licking the spoon clean. “Alright, we ready to go now?”

“I have been since 20 minutes ago.”

“I had an ice-cream because my boyfriend was spoiling me.”

“Pretty sure you forced me to spoil you.”

“Get used to it.” She smiled broadly.

“For you? Sure.” He leaned in and lightly kissed her. “You are however going to have to learn to listen to me too.” He said grabbing her hand and pulled her along, pulling her outside. She quickly grabbed the basket before being pulled down the stairs.

He kept running down, but braked heavily when reaching the ground. She stumbled and he caught her, letting the hug linger for a while.

“See, I’ll always catch you when you fall.” He smiled.

“Well, even forgoing that what you just said was a huge cliché, it’s also your fault that I fell in the first place.”

“Ah, tomato, tomahto.”

“That doesn’t work here.”

“Of course it does.”

“No, it does not.”

“Ok fine, it doesn’t.” He grabbed the basket. “So where did you want to go?”

“Well we were going to take the limo out to Shinjuku Central Park and eat there. I was however unaware that your backyard looks pretty as well. I want to eat here.”

“You’re just being lazy because you just ate and ran right?”

“Also true.”

He grinned. “Alright then, let’s go look for a spot to eat.”

“Ok.” He started walking, but Shinka jumped forward and grabbed his hand. “I kinda liked this before.” She blushed.

“I thought you had experience.” He started walking into his ‘backyard’.

“Yes, because you didn’t lie, mister?”

“Yeah ok… fair enough. But how do you know? I think I acted the boyfriend role quite well ‘till now.”

“You do and say things other guys would never do with or to their girlfriend, which isn’t necessarily bad, but we also ran a background check on you.”

“So you know I had chuunibyou?”

“Well yes, but then again, here you are, doing exactly what you thought you could. It was probably because at some level you were aware of your powers maybe?”

“Dear god, I hope so.”

She laughed. “Alright, let’s go search a spot to eat now.”

“Question.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have a blanket to sit on with you?”

“I… do… not.”

“Want to eat in my room? Or do you want me to run to the limo and send one of your caretakers to go get one?”

“They don’t take care of me! And you can choose.”

“The girl’s choice is probably my safest bet here, so you choose.”

“Well, you’re right. Again. You’re right too much. Make mistakes once in a while ok?”

“Pretty sure you were angry with me just then because I made a mistake?”

“Yuuta, you’re doing it again.”

“Right. Sorry.” He grinned broadly.

“Let’s just go.” She twisted around, going back to the apartment.

“Oh? Do you trust me all alone in my room while you’re wearing that?”

“Yes, I do. Also, at the present, I can still whoop your ass if need be.”

“Yeah, about that, what about my training schedule?”

“At the end of the date, if I’m satisfied with this date.”

“And so far?”

“So far, you’re good.” They reached the treeline as she said this.

“Wait.” He says peering into the distance.

Immediately, her battle instincts jumped up and she starts scanning the horizon.

“Do you know where the attack is going to come from?”

“I don’t feel or see anything so no.”

“I do.”

She turned toward him and saw him grinning.

“This was a tra---.” He stopped her speech by pressing his lips on hers. His hands slid around her hips, and he pulled her in close. She responded by letting her arms slip around him and answering the kiss. They stood there, frozen in time, kissing each other softly. Eventually, out of breath, they both broke away. They leaned against each other with their foreheads, just enjoying their closeness.

“Ok, I don’t think you can ruin this anymore.” She said smiling shyly.

“Well then, I don’t think I ever wanted to either.” He responded.

“I hope so!” she lightly punched him.

“Well, I feel like eating this delicious dinner my beautiful girlfriend made outside, so I’ll go grab a blanket to sit on. Don’t run away.”

“Of course not you suck up!” She yelled at his back as he took off.

He waved and sprinted up the stairs. It’s been a long time since she’s been this happy. That was practically the only thought in her mind. Well, beside him of course. She never really thought she’d ever really fall in love. But then again, she never thought she’d meet someone like him. He acts aloof, is calm, and likes to joke around, but at the same time he is a natural leader, and he carries much she can’t see yet. Although she doesn’t think he’d keep anything from her, he also would rather carry his own problems and hers as well is she let him. She never wanted to be protected, wanted to be strong enough to protect herself but… if it’s him she just might let him. Why does he make her feel so anxious at times. She sometimes fear he’ll just disappear into thin air. He just seems to not be… ‘there’, like he’s listening to the wind, a voice in the distance. Sometimes, just sometimes, during their week of training she had been scared of him. At moments, fractions of seconds, his powers would shoot up incredibly, and although it disappeared immediately, the amount of mana he could channel would have grown.

There was this theory, that every ability user is limitless, but growth is harder and harder after a while, to the point where the growth is invisible. She didn’t know yet, but he might be the first real limitless one.

“You look worried.” He pulled her out of her inner monologue. He was carrying a dark blue blanket.

“A bit maybe. Just where we’ll end up eventually.”

“Isn’t it a bit early for that?” He smiled.

“No, I meant with your powers and stuff.” She said blushing again, she turned and walked toward a cherry tree and pointed to the ground. He threw the blanket down.

“Is there something to worry about then?”

“No, at the very least not yet. I’m just kind of worried someone will steal you from me.”

“No one could steal me from you.”

“I know.” She rested her head on his chest as they sat down against the tree.

“So food?”

“Who’s going to get fat now?”

“More training, less dating was the rule I remember.”

“That rule only counts for me.”

“That’s cheating.”

“I never cheat.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes really.”

“I have the feeling that I’m just going to have to nod and say that you’re right.”

“Trust that feeling.” She handed him a sandwich from the basket and started munching on her own.

“Alright alright.” He took the sandwich and they happily ate, sharing the silence without awkwardness. After finishing his sandwich he just held her and started to the sky through the branches and flowers of the old tree above them.

“What are you looking at?”

“I think I see the past, present and future all at once.”

“How so?”

“The branches are my past, dark and well not fun. The present are the flowers, you and me together, the rose coloured life you’ve given me. And the sky is the future. Limitless and open, there may be clouds every once in a while, but we’ll get through them I believe.”

“Didn’t know you were a poet.”

“I’m not a poet. I just say things.”

“At times you say exactly the right things. At other moments though…”

“I like teasing you, you’re just going to have to forgive me for that.”

“Fine, I forgive you.”

“That was easy.”

“Well, I can’t always make it hard on you.”

“I very much hope you’ll keep up that policy.”

She laughed softly.

“I don’t like making promises, but I will say I’ll try.”

“Thank you… I think.”

“No problem.”

“Say, Shinka-sama…”

“Sama? I mean yes?”

“I think I’m going to join your temple.”

“Our temple?”

“Our temple.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... two chapters in one month(ish), I didn't think that would ever happen again. This is a bit of an experimental chapter, consisting mostly of a date and a whole lot of conversation. I'm trying to practice making conversations flow, and I wanted to give you a better view of Nibutani and Yuuta's relationship. Now I can honestly say that I haven't dated a lot, simply because me and my girlfriend are stay at home people so the depiction of this date might not be very accurate. I'd like to hear your opinions so leave a review or send a pm, it helps a lot.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	8. The Training Finally Begins

**07: The Training Finally Begins**

He was ridiculously excited for a Monday morning. While Kuzuha slouched through the hall into the bathroom after him, he greeted her with a happy good morning to which she responded: “Brother, I know you have a girlfriend, but you don’t have to be smug about it.” Before he could react, she closed the door and he wouldn’t certify her grumpiness with yelling.

“Why are you so happy, Yuuta. It’s a miracle you even got up earlier than Kuzuha. So eager to see your beloved angel again?”

“I think beloved angel might go a bit too far.” He couldn’t say it had nothing to do with his happiness though. After their date, Nibutani had lingered, not wanting to leave yet, and he didn’t try to make her leave. When the cold of the evening had set in, they had moved inside, lounged on the couch and talked about everything and nothing. When either of them had felt brave they’d whisper a sweet nothing at each other. That quickly stopped however after his mom had returned from work and she had emitted a soft giggle after those words.

“And it’s not the only reason I’m happy you know.”

“Yes, of course not, it’s not like you’re a teenager whose first girlfriend is super cute or anything?”

“It just sound creepy when you say that mom.”

“I could make it a lot worse.”

“You don’t have to.” He quickly said, grimacing.

It had been the truth though. After one of her ‘caretakers’ had shown up to at the door, she had pulled a folded piece of paper from her with his training schedule. He hadn’t looked at it immediately, first escorting her downstairs. After one last kiss, she jumped into the limo that had also brought her.

His training schedule was rather simple, Monday and Tuesday, training with Nibutani (and possibly Rikka as aid). Wednesday he would be in Dekomori’s hands. Thursday was weapon training with Nibutani and Rikka. Friday was Isshiki’s day, so hand to hand combat.

His phone bleeped. A mail from Nibutani: “Morning wool head, I’ll be waiting for you at the train station. Kisses.”

He jumped up, surprising his mother who was placing a plate with a sub on it in front of him. He snatched it up. “I’ll eat on the way, she’s waiting for me.”

“Easy guess who she is.”

“Yes mom, I’m completely head over heels for her, could you let it go now.” He said while rushing through the door.

She snickered as he left. “Boys will be boys.”

* * *

 

She laughed as she saw him stumbling onto the platform. It was very endearing to see him like this, out of breath, from running to her, not even taking a minute to catch his breath before pulling her in for a hug. She answered his hug by squeezing him very hard, squishing his last breath out him. She let him go and he staggered out of her reach, dropping on an empty bench.

“Hi.” She said smiling.

“Hi!” He responded between grasping air. “Trying to kill me first thing in the morning?”

“I would never do that. Merely hurt you a lot.” A devilish grin replaced her innocent smile.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to know. I’ll just have to accept the black and blues, don’t I?”

“Most likely, don’t forget from today on your training isn’t going to be a walk in the park anymore either.”

“Shinka, that’s for later, or are you telling me you don’t have anything else to talk with me about.”

She knocked him on his head as she sat next to him. “Of course I do, but why do I have to carry the conversation?”

“Because I’m a bland and boring protagonist.”

“I have three issues with that.”

“Oh really? Enlighten me?”

“You’re neither boring nor bland else I’d never have shown interest in you in the first place. And why would you ever believe you’re the protagonist?”

“Isn’t everyone the protagonist of his own story?”

“You’re not the protagonist in my story then?”

“Secondary protagonist, or at the very least important secondary character.”

“Sometimes you’re quite egotistical.” She joked.

“Well, that’s what you get when you date the most beautiful girl in Japan.” He smiled.

“Oh? Not just the school?” A slight blush coloured her cheeks.

“Could you just accept the compliment.”

“Oh fine!” She pushed him lightly. He slung away from her, and kissed her ever so slightly on the swing back. “Oh no you don’t.” She grasped him by the collar, and pulled him in for a lingering kiss. He answered immediately, grabbing a tight hold of her. She shifted her hand around his neck. Carefully she tried deepening the kiss, from which he shied away. Their kissing broke of and she stared angrily in his green eyes. He nodded his head slightly to signal behind her. She suddenly realized where she was, and looked around.

She blushed furiously as she realized people were staring at them, the younger ones very openly, but even the adults were watching them from the corner of their eyes. A bit off, a couple of their seniors stood giggling, sneakily pointing at them. She blushed harder, but Yuuta burst out laughing. She looked at him in disbelief. This was no laughing matter!

She pulled back to punch him, but he said, “You look so darn cute when you blush, that I might do this to you again.” An older man snickered on hearing this. He threw them a look, “Don’t worry lass, every boy likes to tease the girl they adore.” She had to turn away now because she was absolutely sure her whole face had the colour of a tomato at that point. This gave Yuuta and the man another laughing fit. When the man realized he quickly downplayed his joy, although the twinkling in his eye remained. “I’m sorry, I’m just an old man having some fun.”

Regaining her composure after being prodded by Yuuta, she said, “It’s okay, sir. I’m getting quite used to being teased.” Her eyes darted to Yuuta.

The man smiled broadly, “Lad, you better take care of this one.”

“Naturally sir.” The man reverted his attention back to the report he was holding.

“And what were you doing laughing, Yuuta?”

“I don’t know, well, I do, I was laughing with you. But that’s not something I’m supposed to say.”

“No, it’s not.” She said exasperated.

“You were really into that kiss though. I’d like to continue that in a more private location.”

“Oh yeah, so you can fondle me all-over right?” She said, sounding displeased.

He looked hurt. “You know I’d never do anything that you don’t want.”

She sighed. “I know, I was just agitated a bit over my public embarrassment.” She lowered her voice to a sweet whisper only he could hear. “But then again, who said I wouldn’t want that?”

He looked at her disbelievingly, as their train pulled into the station.

“Let’s go, my smitten boyfriend, else we’ll be late.”

* * *

 

The rest of the day was fun, even if they had classes. Every chance they had to sneak away, or hide in a dark corner they stole kisses. Eventually they were discovered though, confirming the rumours the girls had had for a while, and crushing the disbelief of the boys he had told. She happily announced their relationship, because she knew that public showings of affection would be possible now.

She had immediately used the privilege to snuggle up with him during lunch. Some stingy jealous stares were thrown by the boys, but some girls looked dejected as well. That in turn surprised Yuuta, and angered the girl by his side. She threw an angry stare at anyone who looked even a bit longingly at him. He patted her on the head. “No one is challenging you, and I wouldn’t let myself get stolen anyway, calm down, sweetie.”

With those words and by laying emphasis on the term of endearment he hoped to cool her down. She turned to him and said, “I know.” She kissed him, a blaringly obvious claim on him. The girls all stared at them in disbelief. She pulled away. “Not so fast, my turn now.” He kissed her. One of the guys yelled, “You lucky bastard.” He grinned, and affectionately said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “As if I didn’t know that already.”

Every girl swooned, completely negating the effect of Nibutani staking her claim. She puffed her cheeks in anger, to which he responded by poking in them making her blow a raspberry. He quickly kissed her once more, and as always she melted under the touch of his soft lips. “Like you’d get the last one.” She kissed him as well. He smiled at her and got up.

“Alright, if anyone has any problems with us, you can come talk to us, we won’t bite. If not, I’d appreciate it if you all would stop staring at me and my girlfriend like we’re under the scrutiny of the whole Tokyo Police Taskforce.”

Most had diverted their attention then, the few who didn’t were girls. All of those came to them, wishing them luck. One introduced herself to him, as Nibutani already knew her, as Kazari Kannagi, love advisor. If they needed any help they should contact her, sliding them a piece of paper with her mail address on it. She turned to Nibutani, “Don’t worry, I do not hunt the same prey as you, I like girls.” “I knew that already, we’ve been friends for the whole year.” She laughed. “True, but I’ll leave you birdies alone now.” Kannagi said with a wink.

After that the day was eventless. Some murmuring by the guys, but none stepped forward, they were all aware of Yuuta’s physical fitness, only being outshone by Isshiki. Therefor they had no other choice but accept reality.

Evening finally came around, and eager to start his training, he dragged Nibutani to the club room.

* * *

 

She pulled hard bringing him to a dead stop in front of the club room.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, at this point you have enough control to not accidentally kill someone or blow something up. You could go on living as a normal person from now, isn’t that what you wanted?”

He frowned. I could quit? Do I want to quit? The path I’m on could be dangerous and I’m very aware of it. Then again, he wanted more strength, he wanted to be able to protect everyone he cared about. Especially the sweet, amber-eyed girl in front of him. She was studying, looking like she wanted to know what he was thinking.

“Like you’d ever be with me if you had thought I was going to give up.” He said softly.

A tiny smile curled her lips. “Alright then, let’s start.”

They entered. Rikka and Dekomori both sat cross-legged waiting for them. Rikka rose, while Dekomori shifted them. They were in a hilly meadow.

“I thought, since we’ve been training mana control for so long already, we’ll start with some combat training as an exception.” Nibutani said. “Also, they have a gift for you.”

As if that was a cue, Dekomori rose, and a longsword shifted into her hands. A black scabbard, cross guard and pommel had a copperish colour, separated by a maple wood handle, with enough room to use with two hands if he wished to.

“Watch out, it’s heavy.” She said as she handed it to him.

He almost dropped it immediately because of the weight. He held onto it however, shifting the load in his hands. He grabbed the handle and revealed the white-silver blade shining brightly. He felt the sword tug at his core, swallowing any mana that seeped from it naturally.

“What is it?”

“It’s a blade Rikka asked me to make, for you. It’s made specifically to train you. The sword is heavy to train you physically and it drains your mana constantly forcing you to increase your intake if you want to do anything, increasing how much you can pull… supposedly. I made it according to her instructions, though she only knows them from memories.”

“So, I should not use this in a real battle?”

“Oh, if you master it, it’s more versatile and stronger than most heavy two handed swords or broad axes. Chopping of a limb would probably be as easily as snapping a twig.”

“Thank you.” He said gratefully, glancing at Nibutani, who gave him a slight nod. That was enough for Dekomori.

“I hope you don’t mind I christened it Ganjouna.”

“I really don’t.” He was feeling gleeful.

“Well, perfect to start training with I guess then.” Nibutani said with an evil smirk, “Fun and games are over now.” She threw him some padded leather armor. He hardly strapped it on before she rushed him.

He narrowly deflected the blade of the spear, dropping the scabbard as he had to hold the sword with two hands to be able to keep it up. She followed up by slamming the staff of the training spear against his other shoulder. He stumbled away, but started focussing now, and pulled some mana, expelling it from his feet before the sword sucked it up. He jumped some distance backward, creating the distance needed for him to take position.

She was staring at him, her spear resting like a quarterstaff in her right hand. She raised her left hand, and shot lightning toward him. Raising one of his own hands he formed a deflective shield with his mana, and grunted under the strain it put him, with sword pulling at his magic power. The strike deflected and struck in the ground next to him.

He now rushed, as fast as he could at the very least. He raised Ganjouna in a slow overhead swing, looking for the moment she would sidestep. She moved only a moment before the sword struck the space she had occupied. He followed her movement, using the heavy sword now slammed into the ground as a pivot point, he twisted his body, aiming a swift kick at her temple.

She easily blocked it, pushing his leg away. He landed on two feet, and tried to land a hit by in one swift motion, pulling the sword loose and striking at her. She deflected that blow as well, making him stumble in close. She grinned, as she placed a slamming uppercut on him, making him tumble down the hill.

Some blood trickled from his lips, as he got up. “I can see how you won against a newborn Angel. You do have some rudimentary skill.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think I reached the same level as I did then.”

“I’ll just have to push you harder then.” Her stance shifted, it felt like a lioness who had been playing with a cub decided it was time to take down an antelope. She was definitely going to hurt him now.

She shot forward like an arrow, rotating the spear in her hand, aiming it toward his intestines. He blocked it but slid a bit under the pressure of the strike. She pulled back, and as the following stab came toward him, he felt the shift in him. Just like when he fought the angel, Heliath, he felt invigorated by the battle. His sword seemed to lose weight, as he twisted it around, knocking Nibutani’s spear upward. Twisting around, he slammed the flat side of his blade against her now unprotected side. And with a thud, she toppled over.

It was there that the shift ended as well. Slightly panicked he feared that he had hurt her.

“Do not let your guard down!” and a foot was driven in his stomach, making him fly off. With a heavy thwack he dropped to the ground a mere 5 meters off. Before he could recover, he felt the cold sting of steel against his neck.

“One win for me, Yuuta.”

“That was unfair!”

“Yes, but that’s what a battle is. A battle is never fair. You did better than expected though, I never thought you would actually succeed in hitting me. Next time I’m wearing armour as well.”

Rikka walked up to them, “Yuuta, where did you learn using a sword?”

“I never learned it.”

“Yeah, you say that, and although she was probably going easy, you shouldn’t even have been able to block her first strike, never mind that last stab before you struck.”

“I have never been instructed on the use of a sword, I swear.”

“Rikka, some people just have some innate ability.” Nibutani said.

“Nibutani, don’t you find it odd, that this one seems to have innate ability in everything? A grasp of everything, and improving faster than imaginable and most of the times even without any training.”

“Do you want to test him maybe?”

“Sure. But in contrary to you, protecting your little pet, I will go all out. If you could, please make sure I don’t accidentally kill him.”

“Don’t I have a say in this?”

“No!” they responded simultaneously.

He sighed, changing his grip and taking up position. “Well?”

“Oh, eager are we?” A blackish short sword appeared in Rikka’s hand, seemingly styled like a gladius. A grin grew on her face. The eye patch burst off her face. The golden eye tried to drill him in his place. He felt the pressure, but forced himself not to look away. As soon as her muscles contracted, he once more felt the shift.

The gladius dove toward his head from behind him, Rikka’s afterimage fading slowly. Unbeknownst to him, she had ran around to attack him from behind. His arms however, were raised, blocking the black blade. He didn’t even feel the pressure.

He pushed back, and she gave way an inch, enough for him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her off balance in a smooth motion, freeing his blade. He flung his sword downward, but she had recovered fast enough. Her black blade shot upwards, blocking his, the pressure made her heels dig into the sand.

She flicked her wrist, the sword was torn from his hands and her cold black steel rested on his neck.

“He’s being protected by something or someone.” Her face stood pensive.

“What do you mean Rikka?” Nibutani responded.

“As long as you don’t attack him with lethal force he’s left to fend for himself, although he’ll improve without our training again as well. It’s like knowledge seeps into him constantly. But anyway, when we use lethal force, something will prevent us from touching him. He couldn’t follow me with his eyes, yet he blocked that strike.”

“How were you able to disarm him then?”

“He may have skills and knowledge, the body is too untrained to be able to use those skills.”

“Alright, so to bring out his full potential training his body is more important than his skills?”

“We can do both at the same time as long as he uses the sword. For the first couple of weeks at least.”

“Rikka? Could you remove your sword now please?” Yuuta tentatively asked.

With a snarl she made the sword disappear. “You train him for now Nibutani. He’s so weak he’ll spoil my appetite.”

“Fine! Off with you then.” But Rikka had already shifted away.

“Alright Yuuta, let’s take a short break before continuing. And go pick up your sword.”

“Yes ma’am.”

* * *

 

His skin still felt itchy, although all his cut and bruises were healed before they had left the Otherworld. Nibutani was smiling at him, resting in his arm in the back of the car she had let them pick up.

“You did well, Yuuta.” She said noticing him scowling at her.

“Well? Well? You didn’t even try hard.” After that first time he had hit her, he had been unable to hit her again. As soon as Rikka had left, she mellowed out and started teasing him when she won. Every time she had slapped him into the ground they rested, stealing kisses.

“Yes, I did!” She said, with a small quiver in her voice. He knew she was lying.

“You didn’t even use your good spear.”

“Yes, but that’s because then I’d most likely have killed you.” She said without blinking.

“Yeah… I always forget how scary you can be if you want to.”

“Don’t forget that even though I’m strong, the strongest in the Temple, the Organisation has many powerful ones as well, and quite a few stronger than me.”

“Like Rikka?”

“I was thinking of her sister, but naturally also their upper echelon. They were the ones who implanted the Wicked Eye in Rikka, and no sane ability user who wouldn’t be able to beat the results if the implementation went wrong wouldn’t do it.”

“Anyway, speaking of Rikka, why did she have Dekomori make me that blade?” He didn’t dare trying to summon it, fearing it would break the back axel of the car.

“I don’t know. Rikka does things for her own reasons. It might just be because she thinks you’ll be strong and she wants to fight you. You didn’t tell her anything I don’t know right?”

“No…” He said, it was true, well except for the black flames, but Rikka had said that it had been impossible, a mere hallucination due to the situation.

“You don’t sound very convincing, but I’ll trust you.” She looked a bit dejected.

He pulled her closer, but when he tried to kiss her the driver interrupted them, “We’re here.”

“I guess I can’t convince you to join me?” He asked.

She looked longingly, but pushed herself of him, “You don’t think I’ll be that easy right?”

“I wouldn’t want it to be either.”

She shook her head, “You’re not easy to be with either.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes.” She kissed him quickly, “Now go.” A sad smile crossed her face. He knew she’d probably get angry if he prolonged the goodbyes, so he returned the kiss and left the car. He closed the car door and the car took off. He waved at it until it left his sight, although he wasn’t able to see her through the tinted windows.

He sighed. What to do, what to do, about this girl I love so true, he thought. Sighing once more he walked up the stairs to his apartment, tiredness of the day settling in his bones, and an unnoticed seed of something else in his mind.

Crawling into his bed as soon as he ate his food, he recalled the training, and though a lot about his feelings for Nibutani. Before he drifted off, a voice he knew but didn’t recognize seemed to whisper, “Strength is not everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is starting to get scary. If I can keep up the rate I'm writing at, or maybe improve it just a bit more, there might actually be a chance that I'll publish something. Let's return to the story at hand though, before we go there. *cough* One chapter per month for 3 consecutive months is very miraculous. I think I might finally have started gliding into the role of 'writer'. This chapter mostly contained some shifts in Yuuta's social situation, and some foreshadowing. Leave a review with your thoughts on it, or if you wish to discuss certain aspects of the story, you can also pm me.
> 
> Thanks for reading


	9. A Shift In Place

**08: A Shift In Place**

“I suggest we induct him at Captain rank. He’s not quite strong enough to be a Captain-Commandant yet, though he’ll probably take the test this month still. At that rank he can continue training with us as well without having to play with the other recruits.” Nibutani said to the man opposite of her. The man had short kempt black hair with streaks of grey at his temples. While she was warleader, this man held a higher rank still concerning political matters within the temple.

“Inducting someone at Captain rank? Why should he receive that rank without any tests?” the man asked.

“I personally saw his growth, and his sheer power is enough to squish even our Captain-Commandants. His control isn’t quite enough for elongated fights yet. Therefor I believe Captain rank would be the correct starting place for him.”

“And your feelings for this boy have no influence on you, my daughter?”

“No, father. This man,” She stressed the word, “is even more a prodigy then I was.”

“I’ll trust your judgement then.” A knowing smile grew on his lips. “A man is he now?”

She blushed slightly, but answered as serious as she could, “You’ll see it when you meet him soon enough, he’s wiser than our age peers. You’d like him.”

Settling in his fatherly role, “I don’t think I’m going to like the boy who plans to steal my daughter.”

“He’s not stealing me father. Personality wise, you two are alike.”

“We’ll see, bring him in on Sunday. I’ll induct him, does he know anyone from the order?”

“He and Walter are friends.”

“Alright, I’ll make sure that Walter is around to give him a tour of the facilities, and then dinner at the restaurant?” He said while standing up, tall as he was, towering over her own 165 centimetres with his almost 2 metres, his broad shoulders still as strong as they had been in his youth.

“Seems good, I’ll mail him the details.”

“Good. See you tonight at home.” He tussled her hair slightly. She stared up to him defiantly.

“I’m not a kid anymore dad.”

“Of course not.” He grimaced as he left the antechamber, through the door to his office. He heard the door to the hallways close as well. His daughter was a wilful one. But then again so had his wife been when he met her. He sighed deeply at his desk full of reports, notes and other documents. He weaved some fire into the fireplace of grey cut stone. His office was very meagrely furnished. A couple of filing cabinets against the far wall, a heavy desk, and matching chair. Tucked into a corner was another smaller chair, rarely used.

If it had been possibly he’d have this room redecorated, with seating cushions and the like, similarly to his private dining room, but just like the antechamber, working like that was impossible according to himself. He had stubbornly tried until his wife had simply thrown it all out. That had been shortly before her death.

That thought made him glance to the picture on the mantle of the open fire. A younger him, not yet grey, arm around the middle of a lithe woman, her long brown hair braided, and slung over her shoulder, framed a smiling face, with fierce amber eyes. In between them a young girl, the same eyes as the woman whose skirt she was holding onto. “She has grown into a fine woman.” He said to the picture.

With a last glance he seated himself, and started skimming through the documents, sorting them by importance. That didn’t take long, as most of the documents were not important enough for him to take a look at personally. One thick binder he kept though, although it shouldn’t be important either. He summoned a servant, and divided the documents under the generals, some even going to his daughter.

The servant called some help and when four people finally divided the heaps of paper between themselves they disappeared quickly. Left alone, he lounged into his chair, grabbing the thick binder. He opened it, being greeted by a picture of a boy, with dark brown hair, shaggily framing a friendly face, green eyes shining. Yuuta Togashi. He had some reading to do before tomorrow, as he started to sift through reports of the boy.

* * *

 

He nervously adjusted his tie, which provoked Walter standing at his side to snicker. “Nervous, Togashi-san?” They had become friends through their numerous sparring sessions, with Walter still winning every single time. Their fights had however become more evenly throughout these first two weeks of training.

“In fact I am. I don’t know what this’ll change for me, linking myself to an organism like this, and that’s when I ignore the fact that I’m meeting the father of my girlfriend.”

“Nervousness doesn’t suit you though.” Walter said. “Listen, Yuuta,” he continued, increasing the familiarity between the two of them, “you may have not noticed yet, but we all have. Ask the Wicked Eye, Dekomori-sama, Isshiki-san or even Nibutani-sama herself. You are a born fighter. Whenever you are unaware, you’re demeanour changes into that persona, holding himself up like the soldiers of old.”

“That doesn’t help me now Walter.” Yuuta silently exclaimed, looking over his shoulder, only to see a heavy grin on the older man’s face. “Why are you laughing?”

“Because during those brief moments, where you are who you are, I’d serve you with my life. Combining that with the wee frightened teenager in front of me is just… funny.”

“I…” His answer was interrupted by a young girl pulling open one of the heavy doors.

“Togashi Yuuta, you may enter.” She closed the door and disappeared around a corner in the corridors immediately.

“Good luck in there. I’ll wait for you at the entrance of the temple for your tour.” He made a mocking bow and left with a smile on his face.

Yuuta walked up to the doors. “A born fighter?” He sighed heavily, steeling his nerves. He pushed the doors open, sealing himself in that void he knew from battles, where he felt safe.

* * *

 

The doors opened the moment he sensed the presence behind it grow. Both Nibutani Takahiro and his daughter Shinka focused on the boy standing in the opening. The boy let his eyes wander, seemingly relaxed. He moved forward, the graceful steps of someone born with a blade in his hand. He didn’t seem to respond to the pentagram inlaid with dark blue stone into the floor, except for a slight sign of recognition in the green eyes. His daughter leaned forward, watching the boy move closer at a leisurely pace.

When he reached the dais they were on, he sunk on his right knee, clapping his right fist to his left shoulder, and placing his left hand on the ground next to his left foot. His voice without trembling announced, “Togashi Yuuta has answered your summon, Shochou and Shogun.”

He saw why his daughter insisted on calling him a man and not a boy. Using their ceremonial titles, which they themselves never used. Just referring to themselves as leader and war leader. Kneeling like that was how one deferred to his superiors in the old days.

He shifted in his seat, folding his hands in front of his face, “Rise, Togashi Yuuta.” He studied the man in front of him. The green eyes set in determination, with defiance sparkling, but with enough deference to not offend.

“So you have come to join our temple?”

“Yes.” He answered, seemingly perfectly relaxed, a slight smile toward his daughter before returning his gaze to him.

Gesturing toward Shinka, “Her opinion is that we should induct you as a Captain. She claims you are fit for the role. While I don’t doubt her, I wish to see your talents for myself. Do you mind a little test?” The doors slammed open again, and eight men walked in, all eight Captains. They immediately surrounded the boy and made small cuts in the palm of their hands summoning a variance of weapons and armour.

An amused smile curled his lips, as Yuuta opened his mouth to respond however, “Father! What do you think you’re doing? You said you trusted my judgement!”

“Shinka-san,” he emphasized, “do you really think I’d get him hurt, or even killed?”

She gritted her teeth, “Takahiro-san, who said I was talking about him? I told you he was stronger than our Captain-Commandants, he will crush these fools.” She had witnessed his growth. She had seen him, in these past two weeks, surpass himself several times over. You might think he was acting cocky, but these eight aren’t even on his radar. The rate of his improvement was scary.

“You also said he won’t be able to fight for longer periods of time. A fight against eight people should drag on for a while.”

“Nibutani-sama, I find your lack in confidence disturbing. We will defeat this pleb easily!” One of the Captains yelled, a thin moustache under a large nose, a rapier held in front of him. This man had no idea what he was getting into. The only reason she didn’t suggest inducting him as a Captain-Commandant was that he needed some training in bureaucracy before attaining that rank.

“I meant when he has to fight against opponents who he needs to use his full strength on. But fine do whatever you want.” She dropped herself back into her chair, muttering quietly. As long as he didn’t use Ganjouna that flaw didn’t exist either, yet letting him use that now? He’ll kill someone accidently.

“Yuuta?” she called out.

“Yes, Shinka?” His smile grown into that grin she knew well. He was itching to test his strength against multiple opponents.

“Don’t call her that you pleb.” Yuuta turned to him, staring blankly at him, grin still on his lips, and the captain shuffled backwards slightly. He glanced back at her with slightly raised eyebrows.

“Don’t use Ganjouna, please.”

He actually laughed now. “If you don’t want me to, I won’t, but I can’t promise I won’t hurt them even if I only use the boken. Do I need to leave spells behind as well?”

“No, just don’t overdo it.”

“Alright.” He summoned the boken he got from Heliath, dubbed Shirobuchi by him, and the leather armour he got from her, and the other seven captains shuffled backwards as well. Bloodless summoning wasn’t something they were capable of, especially not in the real world, and it immediately set up the difference between the man and the group around him.

Takahiro lent forward in interest. “Well? When are you going to defeat this pleb, my Captains?”

“Takahiro, may I suggest we shift before we start this fight? At the very least their injuries will heal faster there. And we’ll still have this hall by the end of it.” His daughter offhandedly said.

With slight surprise he twisted in his chair to look at her. He waved her toward him and in a hushed tone asked, “Is he really capable of doing that much damage?”

Nothing but a slight nod as an answer. She returned to her chair, plodding down.

“We’re shifting!” Takahiro said loudly, weaving the flows to shift everyone at once. “Vanishment this world!”

* * *

 

They stood in a ruined town. Takahiro and Shinka were sitting in two heavy armchairs that had seen better days, overseeing the others through a collapsed wall on the first floor of what seemed to have been a town hall once.

Yuuta and the eight Captains were standing in the town square. Yuuta drove his blade into the ground and held his hands up to show he was unarmed. “I’m Togashi Yuuta. I have the tendency to show respect to all of my opponents and I’d like to hear your names before we fight.”

“I’m not playing to give my name to you pleb.” The man with the thin moustache called out, his brave face returning.

“Oh shush Shoichi-san.” A young woman, her long black hair tied away in a ponytail, standing to the left of him said, “He’s only showing us respect. I’m Nashima Aika.” She lowered her brandished katana and wakizashi. “His name is Shoichi Akehiko.” She nodded to the person to her.

Spinning a mace in his hand the burly man introduced himself as Ito Nakashim. The man next to him, having the same curly brown hair, introduced himself as the younger twin. Ito Nokashim was his name and he used flails. From the tool belts they wore it was easily deduced they were craftsmen.

A woman without a weapon curtsied slightly. “I’m Saito Arai.” She seemed slightly older that Aika, and since she didn’t have a weapon Yuuta concluded that she only used spells. Was it overconfidence or did she not learn how to use a weapon?

“I’m Kubo Kenji!” The heavy shouldered man next to her bawled, his heavy voice reverberating. Standing taller than Takahiro at 2 metres 10, the man seemed skilled at using his double war axes. He however didn’t look like the brainy type.

A silent woman, light brown hair tied up in a bun and thinly framed glasses covering devastating red eyes. Yuuta stared back as well as he could, but he could feel his persona crack under that gaze. “My name is Ueno Hana.” She said, and he was more than glad that he could redirect his gaze to the last Captain.

He bowed, flourishing his coat, and introduced himself as Fujii Dai. A short sword held loosely at his side and a belt stuffed with throwing knives seemed to be his weapons.

Yuuta smiled. “It’s an honour to meet you, and it will be an honour to fight you.” He retrieved Shirobuchi from the ground, brandishing it.

Takahiro, who had been observing, nodded. “Are we prepared for this test now?”

Yuuta nodded and the eight Captains answered with a loud “Yes sir!”

“Begin!” Takahiro’s voice boomed.

Yuuta disappeared from the circle immediately. He was moving so fast even Shinka was surprised, but then again, he was not weighed down by Ganjouna. The eight Captains simply rested, letting their senses scan the environment. This was not the first time they’d fought a faster opponent.

They all started drawing on their cores however, filling themselves with mana. Suddenly Saito Arai brought her hands together at her hips, a mana blast charging into her folded hands, just as quickly she brought her hands forward, twisting a quarter. The lightning blast arched round Nokashim, and crashed into a small building. The house crumbled down, a dust cloud forming.

Yuuta stepped forth from the cloud, unscathed. It was now that Nibutani realized what she had done by making him use Shirobuchi. Whilst Ganjouna was the more dangerous weapon, he was still too weak to use it to its full potential. With Shirobuchi there were no leashes to his power. She would see his real power now. And she felt frightened.

* * *

 

He waved Shirobuchi with the little mana he was holding, for his accelerated movement, to clear the dust cloud. He grinned, extended one hand and gathered all the mana he could control. He encased Arai with it immediately and raised one hand, thickening the flows, weaving a massive blast.

The other Captains moved away as fast as they could as he loosened the blast of his unrefined mana. A white blueish beam, streaked with red sheared through the air. Arai only now noticed she couldn’t move at all. The blast expanded, ripping through the ground.

The blast encompassed Arai, dragging her of her feet. She slammed into another one of the buildings, the inn, was his guess. The force pushed further, shredding the building, propelling her through it. When the blast finally dissipated, the outskirts of the town were clearly visible. Arai wasn’t visible in the distance though.

He twirled Shirobuchi blocking Aika’s katana easily. He heard Shinka yell, “Yuuta! I told you to not overdo it!” He ignored her as he pushed Aika away. She twisted around as to be ready to block his counter strike.

He however shot off forward toward Shoichi, who raised his rapier in defence. Yuuta slashed and the rapier shattered. Using the momentum of his slash, he followed his slash, with a heavy left hook. He felt Akehiko’s jaw bone crack under the pressure of his punch, before his body followed, slamming into the ground floor of the town hall.

He felt the twins behind him, turning, he narrowly blocked Nokashim’s flail, but the chain wrapped around his blade. Shirobuchi made useless he ducked under Nakashim’s strike. Placing his hands on the ground he twisted, extending his legs, delivering a kick to both faces, and sending them skidding through the dirt in opposite directions.

Aika was back upon him, twirling her blades, he dodged the first strike from the katana, ignored the feint with the wakizashi, and sidestepped the second strike. In that instant he made a cutting motion with his hand at her wrist. Once more he felt the bones break under his strike. The wakizashi whirled from her hand.

He sped away again, picking Shirobuchi up from where it was flung when he knocked out the Ito brothers. He tried to move again but stopped just before a spear dug into the ground in front of him. He blocked the kick from Ueno Hana who had followed her weapon, and grabbed her leg. Pulling hard, he slung her toward Akehiko, who had struggled upright. She slammed into him and they both tumbled down, raising a small dust cloud.

He side stepped and Kenji’s axes cut the air he had occupied moments before. He faced the massive man. Kenji started wildly hacking in his general direction, relying on his strength. One hit, and his opponent would be gone. Yuuta blocked the first strike that would’ve actually hit him, letting the axe slide of Shirobuchi. The massive man tumbled forward, and Yuuta struck his neck, with the back edge, knocking him out cold.

The twins were struggling upright. Nakashim charged him and he felt Aika approaching from behind. He readied himself to dodge to the sides. Nakashim reached him and started bringing down his mace, he heard the wind whistling from Aika’s katana. He wanted to dodge, when suddenly Dai’s throwing knives swished past him, blocking his ways out.

He adjusted, grasping the shaft of Nakashim’s mace and deflecting Aika’s strike. Nakashim took a wide stance, and tried to free his weapon from Yuuta’s hold. Yuuta slid through his open legs, pulling the brute with him. Nakashim tumbled toward Aika, who narrowly dodged the man. He fell hard and didn’t move immediately, so Yuuta banned him from his thoughts.

Nokashim running at him, his flail spinning above his head. Yuuta, made a small cutting motion with two fingers while he was getting up, cutting the chain of the flail with his mana, launching the heavy orb upward. Nokashim’s charge didn’t falter though, and Yuuta accelerated away before Dai pinned him down again. Where was Dai anyway? He thought to himself.

Nokashim seemed to have picked up his brother’s mace and was approaching cautiously, flanked by Aika and Hana. Nokashim not being skilled with a mace, was easily seen through when he raised the heavy weapon above his head. Yuuta accelerated forward, slamming his fist upward into the burly man’s stomach. Nokashim doubled over, and Yuuta punched again. The lights behind Nokashim’s eyes faded and the burly man sunk to the ground.

Aika and Hana moved quickly, flanking him, trying to get him in a pincer attack. He stabbed Shirobuchi into the ground, and extended his arms toward them. Firing two blasts, weaker than the first but still strong enough to beat either of them. Aika narrowly dodged hers, only slightly burning her shoulder, but Hana was too late, she was pulled along and slammed into one of the buildings. She struggled, and almost got up, before dropping back against the building.

Aika’s sword arm was uninjured and she approached quickly. He readied himself to intercept her assault. The whistling of the blades warned him this time, as he narrowly dodged another set of thrown knives. Distracted that single instant, Aika moved up striking at him. He blocked and countered, she deflected.

She started another strike but he didn’t give her a chance. He stepped forward slashing at her shoulder. She interrupted her strike, in a desperate move to block his strike. She succeeded, but was brought of balance now. A sweeping kick send her tumbling down, and he knocked her out with a pommel strike to the base of her neck.

He sauntered away from his knocked out enemies. Throwing knives shot out at him again, but Dai didn’t show his face. Yuuta deflected the blades easily now that he didn’t have to divide his attention. Reaching the middle of the square he lobbed the ball of Nokashim’s flail upward, jumped after it, and twirling around in mid-air, kicked it in what seemed a random direction.

The ball sliced through the air and crashed into a bell tower. The tower collapsed completely, and a slight glimpse through the dust curtain showed Dai tumbling down as well, the ball still firmly lodged into his abdomen.

He turned, making his armour and Shirobuchi disappear and bowed. Takahiro had an appreciating look in his eyes.

“Well Togashi-san, you definitely passed this test with flying colours.” He said.

“Well done Yuuta!” Shinka followed up, jumping down and into his arms, he twirled her around before setting her back down.

“Shogun Shinka-san, would you please go check the status of our companions, and bring them here if possible.” Takahiro interrupted their celebration. “Togashi-san, wait here until she returns please.”

Yuuta sat down and folded his legs underneath him, in the middle of the carnage he had created.

* * *

 

She sped over the shredded earth from his first blast looking for traces of Arai. The blast had expanded further with the distance it had travelled.

His power was unbelievable. If they hadn’t been forcing him to use Ganjouna he should be able to beat Walter. She had always believed that Ganjouna only sapped about fifteen percent of his magical strength but it seemed to be closer to seventy percent.

His physical strength was at another level altogether after training with Ganjouna. He had easily broken several bones, and even shattered a jawbone, which is one of the strongest bones in the human body, even more so in the bodies of Ability Users.

She arrived at the outskirts of the village, and saw Arai, covered in dust she sat against a half ruined building. “How are you still in one piece?!” Shinka exclaimed as she rushed to her side. Arai looked up slightly distraught, “Him! He protected me! That blast wrapped me up and dragged me away, when it finally drilled through the last building  it discarded me here. I think I got knocked out when I slammed into the ground. Is the fight over?”

“Yeah. I was sent to check on all of you. I thought you’d be most hurt but the opposite is more likely the truth. He broke Shoichi’s jaw.” Nibutani told her as Arai crawled on her feet.

“Alright I’ll come help you look for everyone Nibutani-sama.” Arai deferred to her.

“Only Fujii-san is still unaccounted for. The rest is either unconscious, and stuck in a building around the square, or weaponless and heavily wounded around there as well.”

“Nibutani-sama?”

“Yes, Arai-san?”

“Who is that man?”

“He could be a lot. But for now he’s simply a strong , unbound Ability User and my boyfriend.”

“Oh… I wouldn’t be able to be with him…”

“Why not?”

“Have you ever fought him?”

“Often, why?”

“Because he scares me. Not completely vaporizing me with that blast is actually harder than just doing it. This means that even that blast was him holding back, and Nibutani Takahiro-sama told us that he’s only been training for a couple of months.”

“About five weeks actually. This was the first time I’ve seen him at that level of strength though. Frankly, he scared me a bit as well. Still I’d be able to crush him, so that fear merely exists because of his rate of growth. In another five weeks, he’ll be as strong as me. And if he pushes on at this rate, he’ll be strong enough to crush most elites of our temple at the same time in another ten.”

They had almost reached the square when Arai stopped. “Nibutani-sama? Please keep him leashed to us. If he ever turns against us… we won’t survive it I fear. Even if your other protégé helps us. Even The Wicked Eye will fall to him some day.”

Arai had a slight talent in foretelling, that has nothing to do with her being an Ability User. It was the reason she was a Captain, and it lent weight to her every word. Not all her predictions came true, and some suspected that her talent was growing short lately, that she had lost an edge.

Shinka had only once before spoken casually with Arai, and at that time Arai had been a bit more mentally balanced. Since then, Arai’s vast mana pool had caused her to accidentally blow up part of her house, injuring her then husband. The man had immediately divorced after discovering her true occupation.

They walked further on Shinka’s signal entering the square again. It seemed that Kenji had gone to pick Fujii after being woken up forcefully by Aika. She stood in front of Yuuta, using her katana as a crutch, speaking about his swordsmanship from the fragments she heard. Fujii sat on the ground, clenching his stomach, breathing heavily. Ueno and Shoichi were talking, or maybe Ueno was lecturing him, since Shoichi wasn’t going to be talking for some time, unless his healing was aided.

The twins seemed to have recovered mostly already and were discussing the broken weapons, Nokashim held the ball and handle of his flail, studying the rests of the chains still attached. Nakashim was holding the handle of Shoichi’s rapier, apparently tasked with its repair.

Heavy laughter sounded from Kubo, as Fujii doubled over once more, spitting out whatever still rested in his stomach, and a load of blood. Fujii might need a blood transfusion, but all of them had seen worse during raids and battles in the Otherworld.

Her father still rested in his seat, observing the décor in front of him. Oh how she wished she knew what that man was thinking. He was always so secretive, with the trial today, but other things as well. Yuuta had that trait as well. He always acted casual, but at times she knows there is something deeper within her lover.

She jumped back up, and retook her place next to her father. She motioned Yuuta to approach. He walked toward them, but stopped before he actually had to look up at them. The eight captains gathered in a semi-circle behind him, Fujii supported by Kenji with a massive had around the lithe man’s shoulder. Kubo still wore a smirk.

“Nashima Aika, I believe you are the leader of this… ‘delegation’. Do you deem Togashi Yuuta capable enough to join our order?” Her father stated ceremoniously.

“Nibutani Takahiro Shochou-sama, I deem this man more than worthy to be inducted into our order.” Aika responded.

“Togashi Yuuta, I hereby grant you the rank of Captain-Commandant, with all privileges and obligations attached. You will receive all necessary information from either Walter or your Shogun. Welcome!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... writing this was quite an adventure. I've been weaving writing and studying for a month now, and it has significantly slowed my progress down (I have several exams I have to redo... damn you math!). This chapter is highly experimentive in nature. We have the introduction of several Original characters to flesh out the cast, and we see some of the inner workings of the temples. My voice (or writing style) also changed quite considerably this time around. As you might know writing this story is mainly a me searching myself as a writer so my voice might change more. Originally I planned this chapter to be longer but as it already is the longest in the series I decided to move some things to the next one. Please let me know what you think of this chapter, as it is the first I heavily deviate from the beaten path. Please leave a review, or send me a pm if you'd like to discuss a certain aspect (I always welcome it) and as always, my dearest readers,
> 
> Thanks for reading


	10. A Test Beyond

**09: A Test Beyond**

She turned to the grumbling boy beside her, whose persona had completely imploded as soon as they were left alone. Rustling through a heap of papers that were pushed into his hands by Aika as soon as he entered the office of their section, he smiled a rueful smile before focusing again on the words on the papers. The ninth Section of the twelfth Division had not had a Captain-Commandant for a while, and was led mostly by Aika, who seemed glad to pass on the responsibility. With a sigh she thought back on the events of the day.

* * *

 

The doors of the hall closed behind her and Yuuta, who sighed heavily. He smiled at her as he settled back into his usual personality, the incredibly relaxed schoolboy. “That went better than I expected.”

“Better? You weren’t supposed to fight anyone, and definitely not get a Captain-Commandant rank yet.”

“Oh, because I can’t handle it or something?”

“Hardly, and you know that. Your power is overwhelming, I don’t get how you haven’t beaten Walter yet.”

“It’s because I had to use Shirobuchi. I felt so light, it was so easy to move, there was no strain when using my mana, I felt… alive.”

“Well, you’ve been using more of your mana than ever before, so that’s understandable. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.” She signalled him to follow her as she started walking toward the entrance of the temple. “You see, at Captain rank, you’d most likely have been dumped in some section where the Captain-Commandant would have not given you any responsibilities whatsoever since you’re a newbie.”

“And now?”

“See, there is a Section that’s been missing it’s Captain-Commandant for close to a year. And while Nashima-san has been leading it, you are going to get that position, if I know my father even a little.”

“So? I can lead some people if you can lead this whole temple.”

“I don’t doubt you can Yuuta, listen though, I wanted to prepare you. There’s a whole load of political dribble you might be dropped in now, and believe me, even you’d need some preparation. But hey, practical experience is the best experience I guess. I’ll guide you where I can, but I can’t really start using my influence at that level.”

“It’ll be fine. I’m sure Aika-san won’t leave me to the wolves.”

“Aika-san?”

They reached the entrance where Walter was waiting. He was lazily leaning on a wall, staring up into the sky. He stood up as he noticed them, and with an uncharacteristic broad smile, he shook Yuuta’s hand congratulating him. “I must be honest, I’m a bit surprised you’re the same rank as me now, Yuuta-kun.”

“Oh, it’s Yuuta-kun now?” Yuuta answered with a smile on his face as well.

“Well, I can hardly keep calling you Togashi-san now that we’re equals, right?”

A slight cough from Shinka interrupted their conversation. “Best you keep calling him Togashi-san in public though.”

“One of your political advisements?” Yuuta asked.

“Nibutani-sama, I think you’ve lost your grasp of the politics in the lower classes. He’s going to need alliances.  Aika-san, an old friend, has said he’ll be heading her Section, so we can ally ourselves within the twelfth division at least. With him being your boyfriend he’ll receive quite some scorn from the others. Aika-san was going to talk with the rest of your section though, to help you.” Walter said.

“Which section do you head, Walter?”

“The fourth, but let’s start that tour. Well… how about we just tour the buildings of the twelfth division. You’ll hardly spend any time anywhere else. And if you’re needed somewhere else, you now have a ton of subordinates who will tell you what you need to know.” Walter snickered.

“Before you guys get away and I lose my boyfriend for another hour or so, I have a private question for him.” Shinka stopped them.

Yuuta’s eyes widened slightly, but shrugging his shoulders he followed her a short bit. As soon as Walter was out of sight she pulled his ear down harshly.

“Aika-san?” She questioned menacingly

He laughed. “Sweetie, no reason to be jealous. She insisted. And she’s like ten years older than us.”

“You don’t get to first name-basis so quickly with just another person.” She growled.

“We only use Walter’s first name. Also, we were talking for quite a while when you went to pick up Saito-san.” He explained calmly.

“Fine.” She grumbled, letting go of his ear. He rubbed it, but never stopped smiling. She opened her mouth to complain, but no more sound then a surprised squeal came from her, as Yuuta suddenly picked her up and twirled her around. He held her up for a minute and kissed her, making the complaints sink away. “Never be jealous, your boyfriend isn’t as cute as my girlfriend.” And he took off, leaving her speechless.

“An interesting man, and an amusing boy so it seems.” She heard her father’s voice behind her. She blushed deeply. Turning on her heels she glared at her father. “What did I do wrong this time?” He said apologetically.

“Alright, first of you snuck up on me…”

“Which I would never have been able to do if he hadn’t been distracting you!” he exclaimed in surprise.

“Shut up dad, I’m talking.”

He raised his hands in a settling gesture, “Alright alright, I’m listening.”

“What’s with the test you suddenly decided to do? Eight Captains? Eight?! None of the other Captain-Commandants had to go through such a strenuous test. Speaking of, why induct him at Captain-Commandant rank? Do you have any idea what kind of position you put him in now? What if one of our own had gotten hurt? Why didn’t you trust on my word?” She rambled on, slowly lessening in volume.

“Done?” He asked, smirking. Panting from her discourse, she glared at him but nodded nevertheless.

“To start, I do trust your word, like I said. If I didn’t he would’ve been fighting a single captain and not eight. Next, because I trust your word, I inducted him at Captain-Commandant rank. I’m very aware of his current position, which is also why I did it. Power is not all in this world, I want to see him handle other things as well. That’s always a possibility, and they were all aware of the possible danger. Well except for Shoichi-san, who was told that you had a suitor I didn’t approve of.”

Her glare deepened. “And what would he, of all people, have to do with that?”

“Nobly born people have this odd idea about marrying someone of equal or better status. You’d definitely been an upgrade for the Shoichi family.” He calmly said.

“And you made him think I wanted to marry into his family?!” Her yell echoed through the halls.

“Calm down. I never said such a thing… I merely implied it to manipulate him.” Takahiro said.

“Father, for the last time. You don’t need to manipulate any of your subordinates to do as you wish, it’s their job to do so.” She responded, still in shock, but annoyance returning.

“True, but where is the fun in that?” He said as he started laughing. With a humpf, she briskly walked away, leaving him laughing by himself.

* * *

 

“Aika-san, are you serious?” He said, glancing at the stack of papers she was handing him. “I’ll help you sort through them, but all of these reports are going to be have to be read and checked by you, and most likely cross referenced with older documentation of the section, or even the temple. All of our sections paperwork is in those filing cabinets behind you and against that wall.”

Half of walls of the office he had been given were covered with filing cabinets. Square in the middle of the room a small desk was placed and a comfortable chair still remained behind it, currently occupied by Yuuta. To his left, he had a window, showing the training courtyards of the Twelfth. To his right, beside the filing cabinets, at the end of the wall, there was also the door that led to the shared office of the Ninth Section, where Aika and a couple of other captains sat, to help him. He had to address those others tomorrow and he could feel his stomach churning.

The other wall was covered with timetables and maps, most likely important one way or another, but he couldn’t claim to care at the moment.

“Alright, see all these blue envelopes? There invitations from the other Captain-Commandants of the Twelfth, who will probably want to meet you early, those we can lay aside till tomorrow. Other colour envelopes are from the other divisions, you can leave those till even later. The red covers are reports, requests, necessities,…  of the Ninth. Read and respond correctly. Green covered files are orders or reports from higher up the line, and blue ones are orders or reports from this division. Very rarely reports from other divisions show up, but those are exceptions…”

Just as he started to tune out, Walter entered, holding both a blue file, and a blue envelop. Aika stopped her explanation with a slight sigh. “And why are you visiting us, Walter?” She asked.

“Is that any way to talk to your superiors Aika-san?” He said, to which she rolled her eyes. “I’m here for two things. First,” He handed Yuuta the binder, “this is the report all of the other ranked members of the Division got about you, Yuuta-kun.” He moved the binder to the stack he was going to take home, which Aika had already begun sorting.

“And what’s the other thing Walter?”

“An invitation for a ‘business’ dinner tomorrow.” Handing the blue envelop to him as well.

“Great, then I can ignore all those other ones.” Yuuta said happily. “It’s like these people don’t realize I’m not going to be here all the time.”

“Yuuta-san.” Aika said to get his attention. “You’re going to need to go through these tonight.” The stack was smaller than he had expected. Three thin red binders, the thick blue one from Walter, and a green one.

“Thanks Aika-san. For the invitations you can let the others write up an appropriate response, since I’ll be coming in around seven after dinner with Walter. If possible I’d like you to provide me with the personnel files of at least the Captains, yes that includes you, tomorrow. Next I’d like a comprehensive list of all the other members of the Section, until I have time to root through all their files as well.”

“Understood sir.” Aika reflexively responded as she scribbled the orders down.

“You can still call me Yuuta-kun in private though. ‘Sir’ sounds odd out of the mouth of friends. Oh and that whole explanation about the colour codes and so on?”

“Yes, Yuuta-kun?”

“Let one of the scribes draft up a legend for me, ‘cause I forgot half of it already. Also, I’d like you to clean out these filing cabinets, get their contents sorted and labelled correctly, and leave a list of where’s what on my desk. What colour of folder is not being used?”

“Why? Just name one and I’ll say whether it’s free or not.”

“Ok, use a black folder for all the personal files I just asked, and black folders are from now on for my personal reports and orders.”

“No one else has his personal filing colour, but I don’t see an issue using black if you want to. Why though? Why not just use the colour of the division?” Aika questioned.

“Why? I don’t know, but I’d like to think that getting a direct order or something of the sort from a superior has a better effect than just an order from somewhere up the line. A nameless voice, you might say, is less effective, then a voice you can place.” Yuuta tried to explain.

“I can see where you’re coming from.” Aika responded thoughtfully, as Walter nodded slightly, with a pensive expression. “I have to ask though, why black?” and Walter listened curiously.

Yuuta looked down at his black suit, “I like black, and besides,” he continued as he opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a number of charcoal black empty folders, “these were here.” He grabbed some paper, and wrote out some orders, signed and stuffed them in one of the folders. “Here, you can pluck some lower ranked people from wherever with this order, to help you clean up. I want it done by the end of the week.” He got up and started toward the door.

“And where are you off to?” Aika questioned as Walter opened the door for him.

“Dinner plans with the Shogun and Shochou. I can hardly keep them waiting. Any additional information I need you can stuff in the black folder I expect on my desk tomorrow. Oh… and if you happen to have time, you can send those personnel files to the Peak Lounge. Walter will probably be serving us anyway, he’ll get them to me.”

“Yuuta-kun, I’m not your subordinate you know.”

“You kind off are in the restaurant though. Remember when you called me Yuuta-sama because I told our little Shogun that your name wasn’t Nigel?”

“A decision I still regret to this day.” Walter snickered.

“Oh shut it, Nigel!” Yuuta laughed.

* * *

 

He was still wearing the suit, relatively neat still, but the shirt was wrinkled from being underneath his armour and his pants were a bit dusty from the fight. “Say, Walter, before I enter the private dining room, is there a place where I can fix my slight dishevelled appearance?”

“You could’ve asked in the temple, there are dressing rooms and the like there, as I explained. Or did you only just notice?” Walter answered. Yuuta responded with his best boyish grin.

“I’m not supposed to let anyone out back, but I suppose I’ll let you come along for a second.” He shrugged.

“So even fellow high-rankers can’t come everywhere?” Yuuta asked as they passed through the kitchen.

“This is a real restaurant after all, the normal public comes here too. Also, our rank isn’t that high. We’re at the lowest rung of the middle class. But then again, rising from here is almost impossible purely on strength.”

“What do you mean? Nibutani is the warleader because she is the strongest, right? Couldn’t anyone just attain that level?”

“What have you heard about our ranking system?” Walter asked quizzically, as they entered a small locker room.

“The Wicked Eye explained that we used the demon’s army ranks to rank all creatures, Angels, Demons and Roamers alike. I sort of assumed that just transferred to our temple system as well, since Nibutani made it seem like that was the case.” Yuuta responded as Walter started rummaging through one of the lockers.

“You wrongly assumed that.” As he tossed a clothes brush over his shoulder. Yuuta deftly caught the projectile. Walter leaned against the lockers, as Yuuta started straightening his outfit.

“You see, Yuuta-kun, while strength makes a difference on the lower rungs of the ladder, you’ve reached about as high as you’ll reach on power alone. Politics play a much bigger role in climbing higher from now on. Now, you’ve got a link with the upper-class, your relationship with Nibutani-sama, and you’ve got me on this level. That said you shouldn’t expect too much out of me, as you can guess from my position, I don’t play politics that well, but I can help you with your plots if you want me to.”

“Plots?”

“There is a reason why the temple is divided into so many Sections and Divisions. This fosters a competitive feeling within every little pawn from the chess set. We might be… bishops if we work hard. But the higher-ups won’t see us as more.”

“You want to use me as a pawn then, or do you want me to use you? And what does fostering a competitive feeling between the branches have to do with politics?”

“Basically they want us to fight our way to the top. It wouldn’t be the first time complete Sections were wiped out when the political manoeuvring goes wrong. Why do you think your section was headless for so long.”

“Ok, so why haven’t you started your climb to the top yet? You’ve bested me in every duel so far, so power is not the issue.”

“Hmm… I always disliked the branching structures of the temple. Of the temple council itself as well. No one actually listens to the leaders. We defer to them in person, yes, but behind their backs everyone does what he wishes.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” Yuuta asked as he straightened his tie, and gave the brush back to Walter.

“You’re change incarnate. At least, I have that feeling. See, your personal file colour, your closeness with your subordinates, your caring nature, and your strength all will lead you to become a great person. Even if you hadn’t snagged up Nibutani-sama. The thing is, I believe you just might be able to pull ability users together, at least the Japanese ones. One day you might usurp the temple council. And like I once said before, it’s such a man I’d serve to the end of my days.”

Confused, Yuuta answered, “You’re putting way too much pressure on me Walter. I’m just a kid, no matter how powerful you all think I am, or going to become. For now, I’d be happy if I don’t drown in blue envelopes, and that’s it.” As he tried to lighten the mood with a sullen smile.

“Hmm. We’ll see Yuuta-kun. You ready to go now?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Yuuta nodded, as he tried to hide how ill at ease he felt. Meeting his possible future father in law and Walter idolising him as a leader of godly skill for the second time today was not good for his nerves.

* * *

 

“Your boyfriend is late.”

“Your Captain-Commandant is late.”

“This is not associated with the temple, so you can’t blame me.” Takahiro grinned.

Shinka sighed. “You always have an excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse if it’s the truth. Anyway, where is the boy?”

“He mailed me half an hour ago that he was on his way with Walter. He should be here about now.” As she shifted on the pillow she was sitting on. “Also, stop calling him a boy. He has a commanding position within your own organisation.”

“Like I said, this and that are separate things. I may have accepted him as an Ability User, but that doesn’t mean I accepted him as your partner.”

“What are you planning this time around?” She asked suspiciously of her father.

“What do you mean?”

“Last time you acted like this, you attacked a person with 8 people who can blow up the average person on accident.” She glared.

“Nothing, I’m planning nothing. I just need to check whether he’s worth you or not.”

“I’m not twelve, I can figure that out for myself.”

“You’re sixteen, no you can’t.”

“Oh sure, you trust me leading armies, but with a boy? No, that’s impossible. What if he does something I don’t want?” She acted out.

“You were saying he wasn’t a boy, and that’s not the issue. You’re physically stronger, but your heart becomes weak when you’re in love. I’ve seen it happen before.” Takahiro grabbed her by her shoulder over the table. “Listen, I just want to protect you. I don’t want to lose you too.”

“I think you’re overthinking this a bit, father, he’s my boyfriend, and he’s an exceptional Ability User. He’ll be able to protect me just as well as you ever could before long.” Shinka caressed her father’s hand lightly.

A knock on the door broke the silence between them. “There you’ll have him.” Takahiro said.

The door slid open. “Captain Commandant Togashi Yuuta has arrived.” Walter announced and her father waved them in. Walter entered and strut to the table with Yuuta cautiously following. It was obvious he felt uneasy and wasn’t caught up in the persona he had donned during the trial. He leaned in for a quick kiss, and settled on the pillow next to her. Her father’s expression hardened because of the kiss.

“So, Togashi Yuuta, you want to ask me for my daughter’s hand.” He asked.

Yuuta opened his mouth, closed it again, and then blurted out “Her hand might be too far for now, after all we’ve only been dating for about a month.”

“Twenty-three days to be exact.” Shinka specified.

“Yeah, 23 days. So uhm… I’d like for us to get along for her sake.” Yuuta continued.

“I haven’t decided your worth yet, Togashi-san. You impressed me this afternoon and Shinka says you’re trustworthy, which is the only reason I did not pin you to the wall with whatever weapon I found first because you had the audacity of kissing her in front of me. Walter, what are you still doing here? Go fetch the food.” Walter briskly walked out of the room, avoiding Takahiro’s wrath.

“Father, we’ve kissed a whole lot more than just now, also, you didn’t let Yuuta order. You even saw us in the temple.” Shinka said.

“Shinka, you’re not helping!” Yuuta exclaimed as he saw Takahiro’s expression darken even more. “Listen, Nibutani-san”, Yuuta started as he turned to Takahiro again, “I like your daughter, she seems to like me. I can’t claim we will stay together forever, as we are still rather young, as is this relationship, and we might grow apart still. Nevertheless I can promise you this. I will do whatever is within my power to prevent her from getting harmed in any way.”

The men stared at each other, her father glaring at her boyfriend, her boyfriend staring back, not flinching one bit. Although she noticed he was very nervous, it was not readable on his face, so she didn’t think her father would notice. As if the men could hear her thoughts, they both glanced at her at that moment.

She shrunk back under their intense gazes. “Fine. Togashi-san, I’ll permit you to date my daughter.” Her father settled back forming a tent with his hands, his expression only softening slightly. “But hurt her, and I will murder you.” He stated.

Stress seemed to flow out of the boy beside her. “I would say the same about my family. And her too, naturally.” He aimed a slight smile at her.

“You are aware he’s serious, right?” She asked him.

He turned to her father, “Of course I am. A man of his stature wouldn’t lie or make empty promises.” Her father’s eyes narrowed, trying to pin him down.

“Togashi-san, are you testing me?” Her father questioned him. “It’s only fair after this afternoon, right?” Yuuta responded. She looked at him strangely. Just seconds ago he was nervous to his core, and now he’s testing her father, one of the most powerful men in this country. She grabbed his knee and pinched slightly.

His eyes shifted, a questioning look aimed at her, and she threw one right back. “Togashi-san, I do not appreciate defiance in a subordinate.” Interrupting them. “Neither do I, they tend to get people killed.” Shinka added. She saw that same flare in his eyes she had seen so much during their training. She pinched again, and shook her head slightly. His hands clenched, but he nodded.

“I wasn’t trying to defy you, Shochou. I simply have respect for you, and your position, and I doubt you’d get where you are today if you were that way. I suspect you are an incredibly devious politician, and those kinds of people rarely get cornered by their own words and actions.”

“Politics, Togashi-san? Why would you think that?” Takahiro was taken aback by Yuuta’s words. “May I speak freely?” which got a nod in respond.

“You knew about me before today, had even gotten people to research me before meeting me today. That in conjunction to what you knew from Shinka her reports made you form an image of me. This image was, according to you good enough for your daughter, but you had to make sure, so you devised three tests.” During the monologue Walter entered with three plates and something else under his arm, but Yuuta continued, Takahiro and Shinka listening closely.

“Test number one was the fight in the temple, you needed to see whether I had the strength and potential to protect your daughter.”

Walter placed their plates in front of them.

“The second test is this dinner scene right here. Under the guise of meeting me as normal people would meet their daughter’s boyfriends, you wanted to see how I would react in a socio-political situation in which I was the weaker party.”

Walter waited behind Yuuta.

“The last test is giving me the Captain-Commandant rank against Shinka’s advise. You want to see how I would react to a leadership position, how I would cope with it, as, if I’d ever stand beside Shinka I’d need to have capabilities in this area too.” Yuuta extended his hand toward Walter, who gave him ten black folders and then walked away. “Thank you, Walter.” Yuuta called after him, skimming through each quickly to see what the contents were, before layering them on the stack beside him.

Her father kept an eye on him, while reaching over the table to grab the uppermost folder. He opened and closed it in one movement, immediately recognising the personnel files within and threw it back on the stack. He leaned forward pinching the bridge of his nose and Shinka nodded appreciatingly at Yuuta, who answered the perceived compliment with one of his slight smiles.

“Togashi-san, I’m impressed.” Her father finally said, as he raised his head.

* * *

 

After that the mood in the room shifted immensely. Her father relaxed, and instead of the test Yuuta spoke about, it actually felt like a normal family meeting on the surface. They talked normally, and although her father still probed, it wasn’t excessive and Yuuta handled it deftly. Shinka didn’t have to step in anymore and the flame in Yuuta’s eyes snuffed out.

At the end of the dinner, it seemed like her father accepted Yuuta as her boyfriend. A satisfactory result for both of them. The clap of another folder closing took her out of reminiscing. “Well, I should not have been reading this in the car.” He said.

“Car sick?” She asks, grinning.

“A bit,” He smiles back, “but I need to make notes too. You guys put way too much information in these things, half of it is useless.”

“Maybe, maybe not, it depends on what you want to do with that information. Something you’d understand, right?”

“Uhm? So tell me why is it useful to know…” he stopped for a bit as he pulled a folder from the bottom of the stack, “this.” As he points to one of the page. The line he was pointing at was from Nashima Aika’s admission form. It read ‘She was wearing blue stripe underwear on this day’.

“Ok, maybe not all information is useful. But you could… I don’t know, distract her during a fight with that information?” She tried justifying the report. His face showed he wasn’t biting.

“Ok, not everything is useful.” She admits. “Why were you reading those files anyway?”

“I need to know about my subordinates.” He stated simply. “Don’t you know about yours?”

“I know about some. I know you and Walter, and others I come in contact with on regular basis.”

“No one else?” He asks.

“I can’t know everyone!” she raised her voice in her annoyance, “Have you seen how huge this thing is you’re part of? You have about 800 subordinates in total, I have fielded armies whose numbers count 15000 and up. Do you expect me to know everyone?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it. It just seems like you feel lonely at the top. You didn’t even know Walter’s name before we ate in the Peak Lounge the first time.” He answered back, calmly. “I know how big our temple is. If I’m not wrong, we could field about 130.000 people if necessary so those numbers you threw at me don’t shock me.”

“How much do you know by now?” She asked.

“I know everything about my eight Captains, know how much people are in my section, 784 at this moment, I know the structure, and I’ve fished out some plots other may be planning based on the information they’ve gotten about me.”

“Why? Why are you so accepting of this all? Why do you just naturally roll through these things like you’ve known them you’re entire life.” She asked, eying him suspiciously.

“I am who I am, I guess.” He shrugged, as the car stopped. “I don’t know anything more about me than you do. In fact, I’d claim I know less, after reading the report about me.” He kissed her and got out the car. “Get home safely, see you tomorrow.” And he was off.

The car accelerated, with a pensive girl in the back.

* * *

 

He sighed, as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. He didn’t know why he was so casual about all of this. It was exactly as she said, his mind just assimilated the knowledge presented to him as if it wasn’t new. Like he was remembering things. He knew something was different about him from the start.

The questions all of his friends had about his powers, the questions that Shinka had about him and even Rikka, Wielder of the Wicked Eye, who has knowledge about ages past looks at him like he’s some kind of strange beast at times.

He didn’t care. He started training to protect his family from himself, then he started training to be stronger and protect his friends, who are all stronger than him. He will push on and on. Now his eyes were set on usurping power in the temple. He would protect everyone.

These thoughts were his. And yet he himself felt strange thinking them. They felt sharp, edged, in comparison to his laid back personality. Was he going insane, or was he just revelling in this life he dreamed of not so long ago? He didn’t know.

He sighed once more. He was himself, and that was the end of that. He pushed the door open, being greeted by his youngest sister trying to tackle him to the ground. He laughed as he dragged her along into the warmth of his home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! Somewhat the same voice as the last one, but highlighting different aspects of the story. I'm curious to see what you think about it. This also the first chapter I had an official beta reader, so a thank you to Lilith Mitchell for putting up with me as we worked on the corrections (you see, I'm quite stubborn sometimes). Leave a review or send me a pm with your thoughts, I'm always eager to hear from the people who spend the time reading this experiment of mine, and as always
> 
> Thanks for reading


	11. The New Commander

**10: The New Commander**

He brandished his heavy blade again, ready to intercept another charge from his current training partner. A strong metallic clang sounded as he deflected his opponent’s weapon, followed by the thud of the hammer striking the ground. Despite the weight of the weapon and the smallness of its wielder, the hammer struck up immediately, snaking under his defence and slamming into his side. As he tumbled through the air once more, he used his mana to twist around, landing on his feet.

He prepared to charge in, but a short “Stop!” halted him in his tracks. He dropped his leaden arms.

“Are we finally done now?” He asked, as he stopped controlling his breath and panted heavily.

“Oh, is that your limit pipsqueak?” The middle school girl in front of him asked leaning on the heavy, golden two-handed hammer of her own make.

“Yes, Sanae-chan. You know using Ganjouna at this level tires me quickly.”

“Oi pipsqueak, remember, I’m Dekomori-sensei while we’re training. I still don’t know how you succeeded to defeat eight captains with that level of speed and strength. You’re like a little puppy barking at a werewolf.”

“I explained this already!” He exclaimed “During that fight I used Shirobuchi.”

“That you were able to defeat them with such trash speaks volumes about the quality of the weapons those guys used.”

“Isn’t it possible the weapon isn’t as bad as you think it is? I don’t believe their weapons are that bad, since your pupils forged some of them.”

“The Ito brothers are quite skilled, yes.”

“I still don’t get what’s so bad about it. Charged with my mana it was like holding a lightning bolt in my hands.”

“Charged? What do you mean charged? Like when you channel through it?”

“No, like how I use Ganjouna, or well, Ganjouna uses me. I pushed mana into the blade, made it an extension of myself just like this sword is.”

“You mana-carved a blade made by an Angel?”

“Mana-carved?”

“Do you even pay attention when I’m training you?”

“So far you’re training has me staring at what you do and trying to copy it, which I can’t, and that earns me a whack of that smith’s hammer you so casually carry everywhere.” He said, slightly disgruntled.

“Right.” The tiny girl responded. “Could you pass Shirobuchi to me again.”

He summoned the boken, tossing it over. Dekomori caught it effortlessly but her eyes widened slightly as she inspected the blade.

“This is quite remarkable. This blade is now less trashy then it used to be.” She glanced at him. “Alright, let’s explain what you did. I’ve told you about the differences between Demon, human and Angel weapons, yes?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, “Basically, Angels use their mana to create weapons, and the strength of the weapon is heavily tied to the angel’s strength. Demons forge their weapons, like humans do, but their skill, materials and so on are better than we have access to. We, however, overcame both their weapons by fusing the process, adding mana of the wielder to the weapon as it is being forged.”

“Very concise, and your idea of it is correct, in approximation. We have not overcome Demons and Angels their weapons, we’ve merely found a way to defend ourselves. Brigade-general and up class angels have had stronger weapons than most of us, exceptions would be Rikka’s axe, my Mjolnir,” she caressed the golden handle in her hands. “and even your Ganjouna, if you succeed in mastering it. Demons are even more a danger, as even low-ranked ones can have incredibly well forged weapons if they have the favour of their bosses.”

“Seems like I don’t have to worry about it then, if my blacksmith specialist claims Ganjouna is more than good enough.” He grinned.

She was not amused. “First of all, not yours, and I doubt Nibutani-san would appreciate you saying that. Next, don’t ever let your guard down. At this point, all your teachers, including Makoto, can still shatter that thing you swing around like a log.”

“Yeah yeah, noted. Now what was that about mana-carving?”

“Right.” She tossed Shirobuchi back to him. “When we humans fuse the mana of the wielder with the weapon, it’s not simply encasing raw mana within the metal. We create channels for the mana to flow through, specific for that person, meaning the weapon is attuned and an extension of that person’s mana core. It’ll be less like channelling mana through a weapon and more like channelling mana through your own body, understand?”

He nods, “So what does that have to do with Shirobuchi?”

“Well, angelic weapons contain these channels too, are created through these channels, the weapon itself is basically just skin. The only reason you were able to channel so easily through Shirobuchi at the beginning is because you have an affinity for Lightning. Now however, you completely reconstructed the innards of Shirobuchi, attuning it to yourself perfectly.”

“So?”

“I don’t know, this is impossible with human weapons, but the structure of Angelic weapon might make it possible.” She pondered out loud. “The thing is, we very rarely use Angelic weapons, or I should say, we hardly ever recover them. They are very brittle at best and useless if your affinity is not correct.”

“So, this thing you’re so surprised about could be nothing?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes.” She replied honestly.

“Damn it, why did we waste so much time on that then?” He ripped his blade from the ground, preparing to intercept his training partner, because, as the words left his mouth, he saw the golden hammer shred through the air, spinning around together with the blond twin tails the girl sported.

The hammer ground to a halt as he caught it with his blade and let it slide down to the cross guard. Dekomori showed her evil grin as she started pushing down on his blade. “I thought you needed a break?” She asked in an innocent voice.

“I didn’t say I wanted to continue the training!” Yuuta grunted heavily under the pressure. Shifting his grip on the hilt and sidestepped letting the hammer crash into the ground, casting up a dust cloud. He ducked quickly and felt the wind shear over his back as the girl used her momentum to roundhouse kick in his direction.

He leaped back, leaving the cloud behind. He brandished his weapon, searching for the next attack, but as the dust cloud settled he noticed the girl hadn’t moved anymore. A puzzled look appeared on his face. “Was that it again?”

“What is it you want to ask? You’ve had a question in your eyes since we started today, and you’re not a fun opponent when you’re unfocused. Not that you’re much better when you are, but still.”

“Why are you training me today? Normally I’d have training with Shinka, or in the rare case she can’t, Rikka takes over.”

“Seriously? As you should already know, they’re both wrapped in some business of their respective groups. It’s not something that concerns you so you should just leave it be.” Her eyes told him he should not dig deeper, or maybe that she was annoyed because she was pulled away from her forge again. She’s to blame for it though, Rikka rarely leaves room to wiggle around once she has someone in her grasp.

In private conversations he accidentally overheard, he had heard Dekomori refer to Rikka as her master, although he had no clue what Rikka could be teaching Sanae.

Consumed by his own thoughts, only his abnormal reflexes saved him from breaking something. He jumped backward, releasing Ganjouna to gain enough speed, and slammed his back into the ground when he landed badly. Again a dust cloud shot up, with shrapnel rain of rocks attached to it. He scrambled upright, taking his open hand fighting pose as taught by Isshiki.

But again, the girl didn’t shoot out of the dust cloud to attack him. He might have lost Ganjouna but they both knew that he could still fight, especially now he had access to all the mana Ganjouna had been sucking out of him, his speed had increased immensely.

Thinking he could take advantage from this speed advantage he shot back into the dust cloud, weaving a thin veil of mana widely around him to use as a radar. He found her quite quickly, and pulled the sensory tendrils back immediately to not alert her of his presence. He sprinted around her, and charged when he was at her back.

Naturally, she sensed him approaching at that point, he pre-emptively ducked underneath the swing of her hammer. He grinned, he was sure he had her now. He collected his mana into one of his hand and aimed a palm strike at her exposed ribcage.

He struck air however, the discharge of mana in he had accumulated dispersed the dust cloud in flash of bright light. He was off balance, and a sense of dread filled him, only a moment before he got slammed into the ground. His body crashed, digging a hole. He lapsed out of consciousness.

* * *

 

He opened his eyes and rolled over, crawling out of the crater his body had created. With a heavy sigh, he looked around only noticing his instructor gone. He wasn’t really surprised by the fact that she had disappeared, after all, he had been useless this time around and she had been annoyed since the start.

He shifted back to the real world, and reacted in surprise when he notice an unknown young man sitting on the ground. He stood quite tall, standing just short of six feet. His black hair was grown out quit long, and tied into a braid. When Yuuta showed up, he scrambled upright as quickly as he could.

“Togashi-sama?” he asked.

“Yes?” Yuuta answered as he noticed the man carried some folders.

“Nashima-sama send me!” he exclaimed as he extended the folders to him.

“You one of my section?” Yuuta questioned as he flipped upon the upper most folder, a black one, which contained the legend for the folder usage he had requested and an overview of the contents of the filing cabinets.

“I’m one of the scribes Nakishma-san plucked up to help do the sorting.” The man answered nervously, and Yuuta noticed he was younger then he had first thought. Maybe a year older then him, if that.

“You’ve done great work then. You must have pulled an all-nighter to get this done today already.” Yuuta whistled through his teeth, pondering over what things he’d have to look over first when he got back to the office. The blue folder he glanced at and discarded, he’d discuss this with Aika.

“Nashima-sama insisted we got it done today.” He responded, his voice quieter still.

“Boy,” Yuuta clapped the black folder shut, making the man jump, “relax. I don’t know what rumours you’ve heard of me, but I’m not that bad, I promise. Now, what’s your name, so I can address you properly?”

“Yamishita Kazuma.”

“Well, Yamishita-san, I appreciate the work you’ve done for me. Please take these back to headquarters and tell Nashima-san she can start preparing the patrol routes as she did before, and that I’ll discuss them with her when I arrive.” He gave the black and blue folder back and the boy bowed and left with a quick trot.

With a sigh, Yuuta wondered if he’d ever get used to people jumping when he talked. He gathered his things, and left toward the Peak Lounge.

* * *

 

She was twiddling her thumbs next to her father in the Council’s great hall. Murmuring came from all the stands, between those supposedly allied, those secretly allied, and even some between open enemies, who had much sooner kill each other than agree, her father kept aside though, and she followed suit. She still wondered why she had been told to attend the whole meeting, instead of just having to file her report like normally. She was supposed to be spending her evening with Yuuta.

A slight tap against her leg pulled her out of her reverie. “You’ll know soon enough why you have to be here.” Her father said, obviously lost in his own mind himself. As if he could see the future, the door to the hall opened, and the council members all moved back to their own seats.

The man who entered was someone slightly familiar to her. Kennou Kai was his name, and he functioned as an intermediary between the Organisation and the Temple Council. He was rather short, being only  five feet two, but his heavy muscles made him appear more intimidating. As most men in the room, he was wearing a suit, in his case a dark blue one, with a grey striped tie.

She had dealings with him when the Wicked Eye was placed under her care. His low voice reverberated through the room, as he announced, “Dearest members of the Council, I’d like to announce Takanashi Touka, High Priestess of the Organisation and Takanashi Rikka, Wielder of the Wicked Eye.”

With those words, a tall, black haired woman entered the hall. Even Nibutani thought she was beautiful, and she was not surprised anymore about the rumours that this woman casted spells on nearly every man she met. A pang of jealousy arose in her as she saw the fully developed body covered by extremely casual clothes, the jeans seemed to have been cast around those hips, and the black shirt was wrapped tightly around her breasts. The outfit was completed by what seemed to be a belt choker around her neck. Trailing behind her was Rikka, who at least seemed to have tried to dress up, wearing a long black dress, but the illusion was ruined by the black combat boots beneath it.

The other woman, Touka, halted in the middle of the room, and confidence and power exuded from those eyes as they swept across the room, never resting anywhere until they came to her. She simply looked back, not giving into the pressure the woman exerted on her. A smirk crossed the black haired woman’s face for less than a moment, so short she thought she had imagined it, but the eyes moved on.

“We acknowledge Takanashi Touka, High Priestess. Why have you come before us today?” One of the temple leaders said, though she couldn’t pinpoint which one.

Touka’s voice, although rather soft, filled the room. “I have come here to talk to this full charade of a council for a single reason.” Grumbling echoed through the room, but none raised their voice. “I have felt the awakening of the Dark Flame Master.” And the room exploded. Everyone started shouting, or discussing with others the implications of this. Her own mind was running rampant. She had never been faced with the Dark Flame Master, but she had heard stories.

The Elder from Isshiki’s clan slammed in his into the table, raising himself up, “I thought you defeated that monster years ago.” He pierced the shouts of all the others who had started raising this same concern. The room silenced once more.

“I did. And I will fight him again as soon as I’m ready. But as you all know, we Ability Users can’t be beaten so easily, and this is even more true for the powerful ones. I succeeded in wounding the Dark Flame Master in that fight a decade and a half ago, and he disappeared, which is more than any of you could do.”

An angry silence remained in the room, but everyone settled back into their seats. Her father, raising his voice slightly, asked, “What proof do you have of this, if none of us have felt it? And what do you expect from us?” She wanted to scream at him. How could he stay so calm and collected?

“Ah, Nibutani Takahiro and his daughter. I’d like to thank her for watching out for my little sister. I’ve stood closer to him than anyone else still alive, so I’m more attuned to his mana signature. It might have slipped through your detection networks because even I can’t locate him. His powers only spikes up for a moment, not more. I expect nothing from you except your cooperation in locating him and you staying out of the way of the battle. You will meet nothing more than death if you come close.” At that sentence her father gritted his teeth. She knew he hated it when he was powerless.

“That was all I came here to say.” She turned on her heels and left, Rikka dashing after her, and Kennou following more slowly, closing the doors behind him.

* * *

 

“Sister, if the Dark Flame Master hid from you way back when, don’t you know exactly what he looks like?” Rikka asked, as they marched toward the exit of the building.

“Who says I don’t? I don’t need this Council for anything. I know exactly where he is and who he is. His awakening isn’t complete yet, so I only just noticed it, and I still need some time to prepare.”

“Who is he? Why not kill him now while he’s still weak? And if you don’t need the help of the Council, why have you told them?”

“I won’t tell you that, and you know why. Yes, why wouldn’t we?” Her sister glanced over her shoulder.

Rikka narrowed her eyes. “Fine. My guess is that even though is awakening isn’t complete, he’s still rather strong, or you want to use his presence to manipulate the Council.”

“Well well well… look who’s growing up.” They walked out of the building, and started their walk back home.

“How are you planning to use this?” Rikka asked.

“Simple, a seed has been planted. They all think one of them has been hiding him, or even using him. This will break that farce completely, paving the path for the Organisation to reconquer Japan.”

“Is that true? Has one of the Temples been hiding him?”

“One might have been. I still haven’t figured out how he has been staying under the radar, but he is a far better Ability User than any of us, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a new way of cloaking himself from everyone’s eyes.”

“Is me being put under the care of Nibutani Shinka part of this plan of the Organisation?”

“Likely, after all, it gives a false sense of security if we send one of our stronger people to them. It also gives us a great in, or at least a surprise attack.”

“You expect me to attack people I’ve been befriending?” Rikka asked, surprise tinging her voice.

“Do you really think they see you as a friend?” Her sister requited.

Rikka stopped in her tracks, flashes of happy lunches, talks, and even the training days. The boy she felt oddly attracted to, his best friend, Dekomori, and even that girl she saw as her rival. She considered them friends, but then again, she never had friends before, so she didn’t know if they saw her that way too. Her memories of her past lives were of no help here either.

“Believe me, little sis, we’re on our own in this world. Even within the Organisation, you and I are despised at best.” The solemn voice of her older sister filled her mind. “If anything, the closest thing I’ve had to a friend is our worst enemy. The Dark Flame Master seems to understand how it feels for those standing so alone at the top.”

Rikka did not know how to respond to the sadness she found in her sisters eyes, so she nodded and asked something simple, “Say sis, could you make me some dinner?”

Touka looked taken aback for a second, but responded with a soft smile, “Of course.”

* * *

 

“Good luck, Yuuta.” were the last words said before leaving Yuuta at the door of the Ninth Section.

Yuuta breathed in deeply, ironing down his nerves, and opened the door. He entered and seven heads turned to him, most of which he recognised. Of the eight Captains directly under him, he recognised 5 in this room, namely the Ito brothers in the back, Ueno Hana with her red eyes, the timid Saito Arai and the aristocrat who recently healed a broken jaw, Shoichi Akehiko.

Only two faces were unfamiliar to him, although he had seen pictures of them. The first man stood about as tall as him, and had long grey hair tied together in a tail that hung over his shoulder until the end of his middle. His face was showing wrinkles and that was no surprise as the man looked like he was in his early seventies. Yuuta recognised him as Manata Tairo.

The other man was called Nairo Nobuna was a man at the end of his forties, wearing thin grey spectacles over his dark blue eyes, and is a short bit taller than he was. The man has the weird habit of shaving his head, but leaving his dark brown beard, which has grown out to his midriff. In his file were several documents containing results of his tries to gain the Captain-Commandant position.

The burly Ito brothers came up to him with a big smile. “Hello hello, our new Captain-Commandant has arrived!” Nokashim exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder.

“It’s nice to see you again as well, Ito-san and… Ito-san. Have you succeeded in repairing the damage I did to your weapons?” Yuuta responded, feeling relieved that at least these two didn’t spite him.

“Just use our given names, Togashi-sama, it’s hard enough to keep us separated even then.” Nakashim laughed. “And Nokashim’s flail was easily fixed, you only broke the chain after all. That mess you made of Shoichi-san’s rapier though. We’re still discussing whether we’re even going to try to repair it, instead of just giving him a new one.”

A loud harrumph came from Shoichi. “I concede that you are stronger than me, Togashi-sama,” he struggled with the honorific, “but don’t misstep or I’ll cut you down.”

“Ah, you can just ignore him, he’s just being sulky that he has no chance anymore of marrying into the Nibutani family. Apparently Nibutani-sama cut that thought out of him with quite some force.” Nokashim confided to Yuuta. Shoichi harrumphed once more, turning himself back to his work.

The brothers pulled him along to Ueno Hana and Saito Arai’s desk. Hana rose, and extended her hand, “I look forward to working with you, Togashi-san.” Her red eyes studied him intensely for a second, before she let go of his hand.

“As do I, Ueno-san. Saito-san, you don’t need to bow for me. In fact, I’d rather not have anyone bow for me.” He shifted focus to Arai.

The woman stood upright again, “Good evening, Togashi-sama. My name is… You already know my name, right… uhm…” she fumbled for words.

“I look forward to working with you, Saito-san. That blast you used against me during our fight could have inflicted some serious damage if you had caught me of guard.”

“Thank you sir.”

Yuuta made a sour face, but accepted the inevitable. He had been called sir a number of times already, and numerous more times would come. He straightened his face and, with a nod, left them to their work.

It was at this point he had to address the two men he hadn’t seen yet. He walked over to their desk, flanked by the Ito brothers. The older of the two flashed a smile and extended his hand over the desk as soon as Yuuta reached them.

“My name is Manata Tairo, although I’m sure you already knew that. I hope you can forgive me for not getting up, these old bones need all the rest they can get.” The man said as Yuuta clasped his hand.

“I don’t mind at all, Manata-san. I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

“You can ignore most of those things, Togashi-sama. If you ever become as old as me, you’ll notice that you don’t remember doing half the things that people say you did,” Tairo laughed. “Besides, you’ve done more impressive things than me already, or at least so I’ve heard.”

“Still, at your age, you must have experienced quite a lot. I’d like to hear some stories from you some time.” Yuuta said, taking an instant liking to the old man. “And I don’t know what you’ve heard, but it’ll probably be exaggerated too.”

“I find that hard to believe. After all, a Captain-Commandant of such a young age has only happened once before.” Manata-san responded.

Before Yuuta could refute him, the bald man on the opposite side of the desk made a grumbling noise, as if he was saying something under his breath. Yuuta turned at the noise and locked eyes with the man. He extended his hand, but that hand was slapped away.

“Nobuna-san, you won’t gain anything from acting like that.” Manata tried to reconcile.

“I won’t listen to this brat.” Nairo got up from his chair, making use of his full length to look down at Yuuta for a second. He then turned to Tairo, “And I told you to stop using my given name, old man.”

Yuuta felt anger flowing through him, but he could hardly start lashing out immediately. “Nairo-san, we have gotten off on the wrong foot, and I’d like to correct that.”

“Brat, don’t speak so haughty to me. I’ll have you disposed within a month if not earlier.” Nairo said, the distaste in his voice very audible.

“And I’m guessing you will replace me?” Yuuta asked, touching the sore spot.

“I will. Eventually I’ll take the Nibutanis spot as the head of this temple.” The man stated, anger tinging the words.

“Listen, Nairo-san,” Yuuta layed emphasis on the name, “if you don’t get control of those emotions of yours, Nibutani-sama will never even let you get my rank, let alone climbing high enough to take his place.”

The man gritted his teeth, bumped past Yuuta and left the office, slamming the door behind him.

Yuuta sighed, “I should’ve handled that better. I need to patch this a soon as I can.” He said, scratching his head.

The two Ito brothers clapped his back, making him stumble forward against the desk. He turned around, only to see the two burly man laughing loudly.

“Togashi-sama, you did a lot better than some of us. The only one he didn’t immediately challenged to a duel were Hana-san and Aika-san.” Nakashim said.

“And while he didn’t exactly overwhelmingly beat anyone, he likes to rub it in when he won.” Nokashim said. “He still greets me by with loser instead of my name. That might just be because Nakashim broke his nose though.” He started laughing again.

“I’ll talk him down, Togashi-sama.” Manata-san mixed himself back into the conversation. “He’s not that awful when he finally cools down. Although he’ll always stay a bit of a prick.” He finished with a smile.

“Thank you, Manata-san.” Yuuta said. “Nokashim-san, Nakashim-san, you guy can go back to work now. Since I don’t think Shoichi-san wants me to re-introduce myself to him.”

“Not necessary.” Shocihi said, not even looking up from his work.

“See?”

“Of course, Togashi-sama.” They said simultaneously.

“Could you just tell me where Aika-san is?” Yuuta asked.

“Oh, she’s in your office. Something about not having enough room on her shared desk.” Ueno Hana said from the other side of the room. She had very sharp ears it seemed, he’d have to remember that.

“Hardly a surprise when you have someone with such a big ego to share your desk with.” Nakashim added, a hand cupping his mouth as if he didn’t want Shoichi to hear.

“I still heard that, Nakashim-san.” Shoichi said, but there was a trace of humour in his voice. These were people he had been working with for a long time, and had built a bond with. It made Yuuta hold hope that at least Shoichi would turn around.

All in all, it had gone better than he expected, only two of the eight seemed to dislike him. And one of them seemed more disgruntled with Shinka than with him. He moved over to the door of his office and almost walked in, before a cough made him turn back.

Shoichi was leaning over the desk, extending his hand, barely reaching the other side. Yuuta raised an eyebrow at the sight.

“Just take it before I change my mind.” The man said, looking disgruntled.

Yuuta smiled, “It’ll be a pleasure to have you working for me.”

“For now, Togashi-sama.” He still tripped over the honorific. “For now.” A hint of a smile played on the man’s lips, but it might just be a hidden grimace. Yuuta didn’t care. He let go of the hand, and Shoichi quickly retook his place behind his desk.

The rest had started working as well, the Ito brothers discussing the reparation of Shoichi’s rapier, and something about restocking low-class training weapons. Shoichi was again quietly reading reports and scribbling notes on a separate paper. Hana and Arai were talking about something, but he couldn’t hear what. For all he knew it was about shoes… or how girl pockets are the worst.

Manata-san was looking at him, and smiled when he saw that Yuuta noticed him. Yuuta gave a nod, and turned to actually enter his office.

* * *

 

 “Ah, Togashi-sama, welcome.” Aika greeted him. She wore a simple dark blue haori jacket covering a cream blouse and a matching dark blue skirt. There was another person in the room who Yuuta recognised as Yamishita Kazuma.

Yuuta discarded his jacket over his chair and bend over the desk without sitting down, running his eyes over the chaos on it. “So, how goes the planning of the patrol routes, Nashima-san?” He asked her.

“Yamishita-san, where did you put those two maps?” Nashima directed at the clerk, as she moved to the opposite side of the desk.

While the man fumbled through the papers on the desk, Yuuta asked, “Aika-san, why is it that we use paper for everything instead of computers? Are temples just scared to go along with the time?”

“It’s somewhat odd, is it not? It somewhat stems from tradition, but the biggest reason we forego the more technological route for most of our documents is that paper cannot be hacked. Information on paper is often safer than when it’s on a server.” Aika explained.

“Do we really have such sensitive information?” Yuuta showed some surprise.

“It’s not that the information is worth anything to outsiders, but when two temples wage war, this information might tip the scales. Besides, could you imagine if an outsider hacked our systems and we Ability-Users were exposed to the world?”

“That could very quickly turn the world into chaos.” Yuuta nodded solemnly.

In the meantime, Yamishita had quickly produced two maps. He had moved some of the clutter of the desk, and laid the maps on the table. One of them showed the three districts of Tokyo their temple controlled, divided in even more sections, and marked with several numbers. The other was of one of those sections magnified, on which a bunch of scribbles were added. Yuuta took that as Aika’s notes.

Yuuta scanned the maps, reading the notes carefully. Nashima had experience in this area, quite a lot in fact, and had planned the patrol routes as she thought were best. That is if you’re only planning to patrol.

“This all seems logically put together Nashima-san, but---“

“But?” She interrupted him, raising an eyebrow.

“Well,” he pointed to the larger map, specifically to a section closed off completely by theirs and another section, “this section here is prime for us to start some manoeuvring.” He moved his finger to the third section he had highlighted. “If I’m not wrong this area is covered by Walter’s section, yes?”

She nodded.

“Listen to me for a bit. This Section closed of here by ours and Walter’s is another one of our Division. I want to increase the size of the patrols from three people to five people and instead of killing everything that we find, I want our soldiers, and Walter’s if possible, to kite all the Angels and Demons they find into the Second’s area. I do want to keep everyone of at least Lieutenant class reserve, to either help kite the heavier enemies, or for the other part of the plan I’ll come to soon.”

He cleared his throat before continuing. “Anyway, that’ll strain his subordinates, he’ll have to increase patrol size and patrols just like us but since their dealing with the enemies of three sections they’ll tire easier. Eventually they will cave under the pressure, and have two main options, as I see it.”

“Which are?” she seemed intrigued.

“He’ll either report in to the higher-ups he can’t handle it, or he’ll seek help. Option one will discredit him and give him a weaker political position. Option two, he could, again, handle in two ways. He could seek help from his allies, whose people would have to travel through our territory, so we can report them in, accomplishing the same as option one, on a bigger scale, as it will drag his allies down too. After all, who allies himself with weaklings. The other choice he has is asking help of either me or Walter. Of course we wouldn’t report each other, and that way we could use to rope him into allying himself with us, creating a stronger group for our next move.” Yuuta explained.

“Wouldn’t that make it a very fragile alliance? And wouldn’t the lower level soldiers spread the word?” Aika asked.

“Well, he doesn’t know we were kiting the otherworldly creatures, and he will never know, since this won’t leave the room.” He looked at both of them.

Aika nodded immediately, and Yamishita stammered a “Yes sir.”  
  
“As for our soldiers, they don’t have to know it either, we will simply issue a warning, saying that the strength of our enemies is too large to destroy them, therefore we are kiting them back to their own territory…”

“Which is not something they’ll want to spread since it makes them look weak. That could work.”

“Alright, Yamishita, go get me the personnel file of the leader of the… second Section please. I need to know if this’ll work on him. Aika, tell me whether or not you think this plan will work.”

Yamishita shot through the room toward the filing cabinets in a hurry, and quickly found the file he asked for.

“Well, it seems pretty solid. The thing is you yourself don’t have that high of an esteem within the Captain-Commandants, which means he’ll probably underestimate you, which might make him choose to contact some of his friends and pull them through your territory. And while it’ll pull his credit down, so will it do yours, and people will be even more suspicious of you then they are now.”

“Well, that might be true, but someone has prepared this little place for me to try something in. If I view this map, I don’t see anywhere else where Sections of the same Division are this close together.”

“You think Leader Nibutani-sama set this up for you?”

“He might have. Either way I’m taking this chance.”

“Togashi-sama, here’s Nara Yuuji’s file.” Yamishita handed Yuuta a file.

“Aika, see if you could set up a patrol scheme if we push this plan.” As he sat down at his desk and started skimming through the file.

Aika called Yamishita to her and they pushed the maps aside to make room for the list of people they had to coordinate. She immediately started dictating names for groups she’d knew would work well together and Yamishita started scribbling these down, as organised as if he had all the time in the world. It was obvious the boy was a skilled scribe, even though he was rather young.

Yuuta snickered. The man was older as him. Age had nothing to do with skill, or capabilities. Look at him, he had the power to command people two or three times his age. He focused on the document before him though.

Nara Yuuji, Captain-Commandant of the second Section. A clean shaven face greeted him on the picture, greyish eyes and blonde hair, neatly trimmed as well. At the ripe age of thirty-seven, he was apparently promoted under advisement of his former commander, now Major Renzo Jin. It seems like he is rather weak in comparison to most other Captain-Commandants according to his physical aptitude test. The last noteworthy thing Yuuta could find, beside a whole lot of blabbering, is that the man was only raised to Captain-Commandant rank half a year ago.

“Say, Aika-san, what can you tell me about this guy? This files really need to be reworked, they’re hardly usable right now.”

Aika looked up from the papers on the desk. “These files were never meant to be used to plot against other members of the temple, that’s why they are not as elaborate as files about enemies... but you wanted to know about Nara-sama, right?” She stood upright, and folded her arms under her breasts.

“I don’t know much about him, to be honest. I have heard from other Captains from the Second that he was a brownnoser and that’s how he got his promotion. He is not extremely liked by his subordinates, but neither do any of them really dislike him, as far as I know. After his promotion to Captain-Commandant he hasn’t done much, save for getting another Captain into his position.”

“That’s not… entirely true.” Yamishita softly stammered from beside her, his face hidden.

Both Aika and Yuuta turned to look at him, and Yamishita looked shocked he said anything in the first place.

“Tell us, Yamishita-kun.” Yuuta asked kindly.

“I don’t want to insult Nashima-sama, but Nara-sama has been doing some things that he’s been trying to keep under the radar.” The man said, still rather quiet.

“Continue, and you are allowed to speak up a bit.” Yuuta chuckled, “As far as I know these walls do not have ears.”

Yamishita visibly steeled himself. “Well, most of these things are rumours and whispers between the clerks, but some of these sources I trust. I have heard several things, first and foremost, of this I’m sure, is that the amount of clerks passing through his office is much larger than that of any other office, and most of these clerks have sealed orders with them, which is rather suspicious.”

“Why are sealed orders suspicious? It seems logical to me that most orders are sealed.” Yuuta pondered outloud.

“Well, Togashi-san, it’s rather rare that an order has to be sealed. Almost all orders contain no dangerous information whatsoever as long as the order stays within the temple, and I doubt anyone outside the temple would care if there is a seal on an envelope or not. Sealed orders are rare, and only the Nibutanis ever really use them.”

“So by using these sealed orders Nara is putting himself in the spotlight?”

“Yes. The odd thing is that no one else has seemed to pick up on this. The theory under the scribes is that he just always uses sealed orders, so that nobody would suspect him because he send a sealed order.” Yamishita said, his confidence increased by the listening ears of his superiors.

“Another reason why it wasn’t noticed, is that people hardly pay any attention to scribes, even an irregular amount of them,” He continued.

Both Nashima and Yuuta nodded, as even he had already dismissed them after walking around here for just a bit.

“From some of my friends in the Division archives, who’ve been carrying orders for him, have said that his brown nosing is an act. It seems like he has an intense dislike for Major Renzo-sama, but acted to get his position.”

“It’s not new that most brownnoser fake to get promotions, Yamishita-san,” Aika dismissed his claim.

“The important part is coming, Nashima-sama. You see, it seems now that Nara-sama has reached the Captain-Commandant spot, he’s started changing files of Renzo-sama. He’s trying to discredit the Major and usurp the position as his own as the one who revealed the incompetence of his superior.”

“That wouldn’t accomplish anything. There’s a copy of every file in the Central Archives, which only Brigade-Generals and up have access, and the trusted clerks that have been selected by those people. Even if he tried to discredit Renzo-sama with false documents, they’d just be checked against their counterparts and with that he’d have no case.” Aika once more dismissed the clerk.

“Aika-san, what about the sealed orders?” Yuuta asked. “What if he’s using these sealed orders to pass around bribes to the clerks of the Central Archives?”

“That would still be impossible, Togashi-sama, like I said, the clerks are trusted.”

“Money can be a great incentive for a lot of people and I’m guessing clerks, not even the clerks of the Central Archive get paid that much. There’s always cracks in these systems, even if you avoid computers.” Yuuta added with a grin. “What do you think, Yamishita-san?”

“I think it might be possible. The clerks are usually alone down there, so changing switching something with another document is really easy, I think, at least. I haven’t been there though.”

“Aika-san?”

“I think… I don’t know. Honestly, scribes are something I haven’t ever thought about as usable in that way. It’s risky, but if there is someone who could pull such bribes of, it’s someone from the Nara family. They became quite rich with a hotel business,” she said.

“We’ll continue under the assumption that we know nothing for now, but if he is doing this, he’ll be removed from the equation easily. Yamishita-san, I’d like you to find out were those ‘orders’ are going, and bring in those clerks you trust. I’ll see if I trust them and then I’d like you all to work together… under me.”

“Are you going to build up a personal spy network?” Nashima seemed confused.

“A spy network might be reaching a bit too far… for now at least. For we have to test our spy master, don’t we, Yamishita-san?”

The man nodded, he somehow seemed to revel in the idea of spying on his comrades. Or maybe it’s just that he’ll be working closely with his superiors and not being dismissed as just a scribe?

“For now, a small network of eyes and ears might be enough to get this job finished. I do want to talk with all your candidates before you bring them into the network though, Yamishita-san. Bring all messages to Nashima-san though and not me. It’ll lower suspicion of me.”

“And heighten suspicion of me,” Aika interjected.

“I’ll fix that soon,” Yuuta said with a smile. “Last thing, I’d like to bring in Manata-san to help. What do you think Aika-san?”

“You can ask him, but I doubt he’ll want to help.”

“Why?”

“He’ll explain himself, he’s better at that than me.”

Yuuta sighed. “Alright then, everyone agrees on the plan?”

Both the woman and the man nodded.

“Okay, I’m going to verbally kick you out of this office, Yamishita-san. This’ll reduce suspicion of us having contact for a while.” The man nodded again. “Nashima-san, I’d like you to get Walter so we can push this plan on him.”

Yuuta stood up from his chair, stretching out and moved over to the door. He gestured at Yamishita-san, who joined him with Nashima trailing behind. Yuuta opened the door, raised his voice, and practically yelled, “What gives you the right to fondle your superior’s behind?!”

Yamishita took his cue and sprinted out the office, turning some heads. His braid was the last thing visible as he dashed around the corner. Nashima followed him, looking quite subdued. A small blush coloured her cheeks.  
  
“Was this your plan to make me more inconspicuous?” Nashima asked quietly.

“They’ll think he’s trying to court you” Yuuta whispered, keeping the stern expression he had summoned on his face.

Nashima stalked of after those words, seemingly angry. “Maybe actually angry,” Yuuta thought, a smile creeping up on his face, which he supressed as quickly as he felt it coming. He composed himself, and turned toward Manata-san, who had been joined by Nobuna once more, the latter’s eyes filled with spite.

“Manata-san, could I talk to you for a minute?” Yuuta called out to him.

“Story time already, Togashi-sama?” the old man asked with a smile, as he got up from his desk.

* * *

 

Manata shuffled into the office, while Yuuta was clearing the new patrol schedules from the desk. Those had to be kept a secret from him for at least a bit longer. He pushed them into a desk drawer and took his seat.

Manata glanced around, and then pulled a chair from a corner of the office. The bland thing was so inconspicuous that Yuuta hadn’t even noticed it when he first visited the office yesterday.

“I hope you don’t mind, Togashi-sama? Even I am feeling to start my age.” The man smiled.

Yuuta responded in kind, gesturing to the chair, “I should have thought of that, to be honest. My apologies, Manata-san.”

Manata sat down, “Thank you. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Well, I’m looking for some help with a certain endeavour,” Yuuta circuitously started, “I have certain plans I want to set in motion, and I could use your help.”

“You are quite vague, so I suspect it has a certain amount of secrecy bound to it?” Manata asked.

Yuuta simply nodded, folding his hands on his desk.

“I can’t really say if it’s something I want to do, unless you tell me something.” Manata apologetically responded. “Is this endeavour one aimed at personal glory, or one to aid the temple?”

“It might help the temple in the long run.” Yuuta said.

“So personal glory then?”

Yuuta doesn’t answer. He doesn’t see it as trying to gain personal glory, he wants to prove himself, prove himself capable of standing next to Shinka at the top. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knows he might turn out to be a great leader. He surprises himself with his ideas and plans at times, but since they come from no one but him, he trusts them.

“I’m sorry, Togashi-sama, but I’m sworn to this temple, not my singular commander. I cannot help you if what you’re planning to do is a hindrance to it. My loyalty lies with this organisation, and I don’t think you’ll get me to change my mind.” Manata explained.

When Yuuta remained silent, trying to figure out how he could change the kind old man’s choice, Manata started raising himself.

“Wait, Manata-san. I know you said you wouldn’t change your mind,” Yuuta got up, and walked round the desk, “but would you place the loyalty to a friend above the loyalty to an organisation?” Yuuta extended his hand.

“I’m sorry, Togashi-sama, but even at my age, or maybe especially at my age, you don’t make friends lightly, maybe a couple months down the line you’ll be able to invoke this… how would the youngsters say it… this friend card to change my mind.” Manata was adamant.

Yuuta wanted to drop his hand, but Manata clasped it. “I look forward to hear about these exaggerations of yours.”

Yuuta showed a small smile, “I look forward to your stories as well, Manata-san. Could I also ask you to keep the contents of this conversation secret?”

“Hardly difficult, as I know nothing.” Manata smiled.

Manata shuffled from the office, and Yuuta sighed deeply. He moved the chair back to its corner and retook his place at his desk. He dug up the papers Yamishita and Aika had been working on, to see if he could make sense of them.

* * *

 

Yamishita walked into the Division’s Archives, and immediately spotted one of his friends approaching him.

“Kazuma! Where’ve you been, I didn’t see you at all today?” The blonde twin tails gave the woman a more girly appearance, but it was not easy to hide your age, even if you’re really short. She was at least three heads shorter than him but he wasn’t going to say that to her. Broken bones had happened to others who did.

“Yo Maiko! Nashima-sama stole me for a while for a job.”

“Oh yeah, I heard there’s a new CC for the Ninth.”

“Shortening the ranks really doesn’t make you sound hip.”

“Oh but I’m still hip, I’m only in my twenties.” She said, taking what she thought was a cute pose to accentuate her statement.

“Late twint-----” his statement cut short by a foot slamming down on his foot. He kept his mouth shut as she glared up at him.

“Anyway,” She kept an eye on him, “how is our new Captain-Commandant?”

“He’s… odd. He’s quite young, but when you hear him speak it almost sounds like he’s battle weary.”

“He sounds interesting. You think I’ll get a chance to work with him?”

“A first fish? No, I have to think about this clearly,” Yamishita’s thoughts raced. Is she trustworthy? I consider her a friend but is she trustable with the secrets Togashi-sama wants us to keep? She’s not one to gossip excessively unlike what her persona would suggest, she’s more of a listener. Do I send her or not? I’m not sending her just yet, maybe a test rumour to see if it spreads? But what?

“Kazuma? Are you okay, you look a bit… constipated.” Maiko looked concerned.

“I’m okay… sorry, I wandered of there for a bit.” Yamishata apologized.

“Hmm… okay. Anyway do you think you might be able to suggest me to him?”

 Wait, that’s it, there were no other scribes in the office when he was thrown out, and since the captains hardly talk to scribes, most even refuse to learn the names, this is something that won’t start spreading any other way.

“I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to do it any time soon, he kinda kicked me out of his office.” He said with a sheepish grin.

“What did you do then?” She asked.

“I’d rather you not spread this, but I…” Did he have to use the reason Togashi-sama did?

“I what?” Maiko pressed.

He resigned, “I accidentally fondled Nashima-sama’s behind and it was blown out of proportion.”

“Accidentally?” Maiko teased.

“Yes, accidentally, you know I’m not that sort of person.” Yamishita felt a blush creeping.

“Sure accidentally,” Maiko smiled teasingly, “you know, if you wanted to touch a girl’s butt, you could’ve just asked,” she said before skipping away like a school girl.

Yamishita shook his head. What had he gotten himself into now.

* * *

 

“So Walter, what do you think?” Yuuta asked of the older man.

“I’m going to have to leave here as soon as possible. I need to change the patrol schedules fast if I want to participate in this,” Walter said. “Don’t spread it to the Captains, right?”

“Yes, that is part of the plan. I’m guessing you think it’s good then?”

“It is. It might turn out to be very good. Nara is rather weak to start with, this’ll topple him quickly,” Walter responded. “You don’t happen to have a trustworthy scribe lying around that I could use, do you?”

“I don’t, and I can’t lend you Aika, I need her to help me plan my side.”

“You have one, don’t you? A scribe you tangled in this web?” Walter’s eyes narrowed.

“I might, but he’s not available right now, whether he actually is mine or not.”

“You’re pushing a lot of work on me on this Monday evening.”

“I’ll be here most of the night too, and I have school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but you’re hardly going to be doing anything.”

“I doubt Aika would be happy with that.”

“I would not, your incessant talking has made it more difficult already.” Aika interjected from the corner of the desk she had claimed to write on.

“Fine, fine, I’m off. I’ll send you a note if I get it done by tomorrow morning when the new schedules need to be up.” And he left the office. The group office adjacent to this one was almost empty too. Only Shoichi was still working on some report, that’ll probably be on Yuuta’s desk tomorrow.  
  
He sighed, besides planning the patrols, he had a pile of overdue paperwork that still needed to be done as well. At least for that he’ll be able to call in a scribe. He almost couldn’t wait until Yamishita send some good candidates to use.

“Togashi-sama, come help, will you? Instead of daydreaming like a love-struck teenager.” Aika said.

“I am a love-struck teenager though, I only got roped into this by Nibutani Shinka, you know.”

“That’s a fair point, nonetheless, help, will, you?” She stressed the last three words.

“Yes. Just give me a second, I need to inform my mom the group project ran late and I’ll be sleeping over with my classmate.”

“And there’s the teenager part,” her voice cracking a bit through the withheld laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh at your younger superior,” he joked along.

* * *

 

“Did he take the bait?” The voice was soft, almost feminine, even though it came from a man.

“Yes.” was the answer.

“So you are part of his inner circle now?”

“No, not yet. He gave me a… task though.”

“Why not? If he took the bait it’d be easy to get into his circle.”

“If something went wrong, he’d immediately suspect me though. With those longer term plan, I’ll be able to get his trust completely.”

“We’ll see. I hope you do not fail me, you know what happens then, right?”

“Of course.”

“Leave then, make sure no one sees you leave the group office. If someone does, make them disappear.”

He left, walking through the empty group office. As he left that room, and entered the corridor he almost bumped into a scribe with long blonde hair.

“I’m sorry, I should watch out were I walk,” the girl apologized.

“It’s of no consequence.” After all, she was just a lowly scribe. He continued walking, and left the area of the second division without being seen by anyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I am back, and hard at work at the next chapter too! I'm striving too update this fic monthly from now on, though I might be overworking myself a bit if school starts giving out tasks left and right again. Part of the next chapter is already written, mainly because I planned it to be part of this chapter as well, but I think that might be too much of a push at once, so I cut the chapter off where it felt right. This is quite a long chapter, and it throws a lot at you, so let me know what you think in a review. I'm off again though to start working on the next chapter, so, as always
> 
> Thanks for reading


	12. Twisting Currents

**11: Twisting Currents**

He awakened in his bed, his bed room neatly cleaned, save for the boxes that contained his former Chuunibyou stuff, and some clothes he hadn’t picked up yet. He let out a yawn and tried to move from underneath the covers. He couldn’t.

He couldn’t move, his blankets restraining his arms by his side. He looked around and first noticed that through his window there was a seamless grey nothing, extending in all directions. A noise from the other side of the room made him twist around in bed.

In the corner that he just couldn’t completely see, a figure sat in the shadows, idly flipping through a book. “Don’t panic, this is merely a dream,” the figure said, clapping the book shut as he noticed Yuuta tossing in his bed.

Something about the voice seemed familiar to Yuuta, as if he’d heard it before, he just couldn’t place it. “Who are you?” Yuuta asked, suspicious of the figure. Was he one of his new enemies from the Temple?

“I’m no one important,” the man said. “I’ve come with a warning.”

“A warning?” Yuuta questioned, trying to get the man into his view, but his blanket was unmovable.

“They’re onto us. Make sure you’re ready to defend yourself. I don’t know if I’ll be able to help you at the moment.”

“Who? Us? Help me? Who are you?” Yuuta asked in frustration, still trying the wrestle himself from underneath his covers.

“Like I said, it’s not important who I am. They, the ones who defeated us before, they’re coming again. Yes, help you, like I’ve been doing since you’ve been sucked up into this world again. This is the end of this conversation though. You’re not supposed to stay too long in this place.”

“This place? Wait, I have questions?!” Yuuta yelled, but he felt himself twirling out of this vague dream world.

* * *

 

Yuuta tumbled backward, taking his heavy office chair with him. He shook his head, trying to remember the dream. The memories faded fast however, as they do with any other dream. In the first place, why had he thought it was something other than just a dream?

He crawled upright, using his desk to pull himself up in his drowsiness. Why was he in his office again? Right, they had stayed up late planning everything. He hoped people just thought he had some catch-up to do instead of being suspicious of him. _Seriously though,_ he thought, _can I stop planning every move I make?_

A blanket was discarded on the ground next to his chair, someone had tucked him in. He felt a blush crawling up. He was not a kid anymore, he didn’t need to be wrapped in like a babe. He pulled the chair upright and folded the blanket. If there were going to be more of these nights, he might need to consider getting some sort of pallet in here to sleep on.

He removed his cell phone from his pocket, and checked the time. He had to leave pretty soon, if he wanted to have any hope of getting to school on time. He stuck his head out of the door of his office to check if there was anyone in the adjacent room yet. It was empty this early, of course.

He removed his creased uniform from his bag. He felt less dumb then yesterday for taking along a change to school, just for his meeting with Walter. He started undressing quickly, discarding the suit he was wearing on the ground. _In addition to a pallet, I need to get some extra clothes here_ , his mind wandered off as he put the pants of his uniform back on.

Right then, the door to his office opened. He turned slowly, only to see Aika stand in the doorway. He felt the blush creep up again, but pushed the shame down. He was wearing more then he would have if they’d been at a pool. He felt the commander take control again, and motioned her in.

She pushed some of the clutter on the desk on a bigger heap, creating a bit of room for her to put down a tray in front of his chair. He, in the meantime, buttoned his shirt. She turned around, showing that she was carrying both a black folder and a blue envelope. He strolled over to his chair, putting on his jacket while walking over.

“Did you sleep well?” Aika asked sweetly.

“Yeah… better than expected since I did it in this chair,” Yuuta responded.

“Not too cold?” she asks.

“No, and I guess you were the one to tuck me in?” Yuuta asked, this time unable to keep his cheeks from colouring slightly.

“I wouldn’t dare tuck in my big bad commander!” Her smile broke through.

“Just laugh already!” Yuuta exclaimed, feeling exasperated.

And on cue, the older woman lost control and started laughing. It didn’t take long before Yuuta joined her. A couple of minutes later their laughing had subsided.

“So? Did we finish the necessary paperwork?” Yuuta asked.

“Yes, yes I did.” She smiled. “Most of it was done when you started dozing off so I finished it. I simply need your signatures on these orders before the execution of the plan can start.” She handed over the black folder, and blue envelope.

“And this?” He wondered, raising the envelope, simply marked _Yuuta_.

“One of the scribes brought it in just now. I suspect it’s from Walter, to tell you his end is ready and he is waiting for your signal.” She shrugged.

He ripped open the envelope, and retrieved the paper from inside. He folded it open, and small cursive letters read ‘ _Don’t trust everyone so easily’_. Yuuta gritted his teeth. That was too close to some of the things the voice in his head said to him at times. He crumbled up the paper, and threw it in the trash.

“What was it?” Aika asked curiously.

“Nothing. Just give me the papers I need to sign,” Yuuta barked, his annoyance at the mystical letter even clearer.

Aika handed over the folder, and Yuuta started signing the orders. Luckily, he had done that during the work last night as well, so he only had to catch up a bit. While he was scrawling, Aika removed the cover of the tray she had put down, revealing a cup of coffee and a couple of croissants.

“Thank you,” he grumbled, taking a sip of the coffee. He was not happy that he flared out so easily at times.

“It’s no problem, I couldn’t get over my heart to make you go to school on an empty stomach.” Aika said, a bit dramatic.

Yuuta checked his phone. _Crap_ , was the one thought that shot through his mind. He closed the folder containing the half-finished orders, and gulped down the hot coffee. He grunted and grabbed a croissant that he started stuffing in his mouth. “I’m off, Aika-san, else I’ll be late. I’ll finish the orders tonight.”

“You’re not done?” she asked as he shot through the doors. She shook her head slightly, grabbed the folder and followed him out of the complex.

With the croissant still in his mouth, he ran out the main entryway, passing through the courtyard of the building. He shot through the gates but stopped when he heard his name called. He glanced around to see where the sound came from.

“Togashi-sama!” it sounded again. He turned, to see one of the cars that he took so often standing behind him. He walked over to it, and the driver rolled down the window.

“Togashi-sama, have you no need for our service then?”

“Did I ask for you to wait here?” Yuuta asked, confused.

“I did,” a woman’s voice sounded from behind him. “I guessed you’d be late if I didn’t arrange this. And I do need you to finish this.” She stepped up to the car and opened the back door. Grumbling, Yuuta joined her.

The driver took of the moment that Yuuta buckled himself in. He sighed, “Thank you again, Aika-san.”

“Yuuta-kun, I’m here to help you for these first few days, and after too, I am your subordinate after all. It is funny that such a capable commander, who spend a whole night managing the intricacies of a militant plan, is such a klutz,” she smiled.

“Message received,” Yuuta sighed. “Give me the folder, I’ll finish the orders now.”

* * *

 

He got out of the car, only to be greeted by his girlfriend tapping her foot at the school gates. He walked up to her, and tried to envelop her in his arms. She deftly dodged his hug however.

“Where were you? I was waiting for you at the station!” she growled, her voice low, but somehow managing to sound like a shout too.

“I… I slept at the office. I worked into the night, and fell asleep behind my desk. I’m lucky Aika got me a driver else I wouldn’t have been here yet,” he whispered back.

“How could you have to work an all-nighter, on your first day in the office?” Her eyes narrowed, “What are you upto?”

“Nothing, nothing, I’ve just been catching up with all the work that got set aside since my predecessor.”

“I don’t believe you, but I’ll wait ‘till lunch to hear you out,” she said, crossing her arms. “When those first few plans start falling apart, you’ll come to me for advise anyway.”

“I’m sure I don’t have to remind you, but since I’ve got control over my mana most of our games of chess have ended in draws.”

She glared, “So, you think your mister big strategist now? Fine, we’re putting today’s planned training off. Tuesday is going to be strategy day from now on.”

“I… fine, let’s just go in, before we’re late,” he responded, and clasped her hand, pulling her into the school.

They entered the building, but bumped into someone just behind the doors.

“Watch where you walk Yuuta!” Rikka pushed him aside, marching past them. Nibutani reacted quickly however, grabbing her by her arm.

“You could be nicer to your friends, you know. And I don’t appreciate you using my boyfriend’s first name,” Nibutani was annoyed. And he was to blame. He quickly tried to calm down the situation, these two were close enough to fighting as is.

“Come on guys. Calm down. First of all, Shinka, she’s been using my first name for some time now, and it’s never bothered you before. Don’t work out your annoyance on someone other than me if I’m the cause,” he said. Nibutani let go of Rikka, and again, folded her arms across her chest, showing her displeasure.

“And you, Rikka,” he turned, “There’s no need to snap at people. We had no way of knowing you were coming around that corner. We’re friends, and bumping into each other should be fun, no?”

She glared at him, “Does it look like I care? You’re no friends of mine, at most I see you as a training partner, and that only reluctantly, since you’re so damn weak. And another thing,” she pushed a single finger to his chest, “I don’t listen to you.”

She turned and stalked off, leaving Yuuta and Nibutani. “You know, for once, I agree with the girl. Why should I listen to you?” Nibutani asked.

“Yo! Nibutani-san, Yuuta-kun!”

“Isshiki, thank god you’re here!” Yuuta almost danced in joy.

“Oh, trouble in paradise?” he asked.

“No, we’re just having a bit of a disagreement,” Nibutani responded, finally seeming to relax a bit.

“Yeah, nothing special.” Yuuta added, quickly siding with Shinka, hoping he’d be able to dodge getting questioned again that way.

“Hmm, hey, do you guys know what’s up with Takanashi? She stampeded right past me just now.”

“Who knows what goes on in that girl’s head,” Nibutani answered.

“She seemed upset about something, but that’s all I know. We only just saw her too.”

“Don’t you live underneath her? Like, don’t you guys come to school together?”

“I… I didn’t leave from home today.” Yuuta grinned.

“What?” Makoto looked shocked, confusing the others. “Does that mean that you two… slept togeth---”

His sentence was cut off by both members of the couple, who were using all the negative statements they knew to deny it. “No way!” “Nope!” “No! Just no!” “The hell do you think, of course not!” “Get your mind out of the gutter Makoto, don’t even dare think about Shinka that way.”

“Ok! Ok! Got it!” Makoto waved his hands, cutting their talking off. “I knew Yuuta didn’t have the balls.”

“At least I have the balls to ask someone out Makoto.” Yuuta responded smugly, wrapping an arm around Nibutani, who allowed it after a short glance.

“I, don’t parade you guys’ relationship in front of me! I’ll be dating our cutest senpai, mark my dman words you… you… skanks.”

In sync, Nibutani and Yuuta looked unimpressed by the insult. “Skanks? Come on man, you’re better than that,” Yuuta said, shaking his head. It was then that the bell rang.

“Apparently not though, and he won’t have any chance to figure out a better one. Come on, class is starting.” Now it was Nibutani’s turn to drag Yuuta along, being followed by a dejected Isshiki.

* * *

 

They were sitting on a walkway, on top of the roof. Their school didn’t actually have a flat roof, but they did have a wooden walkway installed, because many pupils had been complaining about being unable to lunch on the roof. Strangely enough, the walkway was empty except for them. They sat on the edge, letting their feet hang off the broad passageway.

Yuuta was munching on a sandwich he had bought in the cafeteria earlier in the day, and kicking his feet idly. He knew the girl next to him wanted to talk about something, but he let her think about her words. She had hardly touched her lunchbox.

“What are you up to, Yuuta?” She finally asked. Simple and sweet. The question was loaded though.

He sighed. “What do you mean, exactly?”

“Okay, we’ve been dating for a month now. We kiss, we talk, and spend some time together. We’ve gone on six dates, if you count the ones when we were interrupted by Rikka, when we started the night with Isshiki, and when you met my father. Yet you seem distant at times still. You hardly move closer unless I prod you too. Do you not want to go out anymore?” the question stayed in the air for a second.

He opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the girl once more.

“Then, I hear you’ve stayed up an entire night with Nashima-san, who calls you by your first name, and is… moderately attractive. What’s that all about?” her voice strained, she was trying not to shout. There might be no one around up here, there were still people walked around down in the courtyard.

He once again tried to answer. Tried.

“You know, I talked to the people under you, most seem to have taken a liking to you, even though you kicked their teeth in just two days ago. Even Shoichi-san buckled, and you broke his damn jaw. How did you do it? Why are you trying so hard for something you’re only doing because of me? What is going on inside that head of yours?” she ended. The silence remained.

“Are you done now?” he asked tentatively.

She nodded.

“Listen, Shinka, I’ll try to address everything, but you’ve said quite a lot, so forgive me if I forget something.”

She nodded again, she trembled slightly. “ _Was this the same battle-hardened commander I saw on Sunday?”_ the thought crossed his mind.

“Okay, I can’t exactly explain everything that goes on in my head, at least just yet. There are some things that our relationship is a bit too… fresh for.”

She looked at him, her eyes narrowing to a glare slowly as she made the connection in her head.

“Anyway,” he continued, feeling flustered, “you yourself said once that I’m capable of putting people in positions where they wish to serve me. I don’t do it on purpose, and you know that.”

Her eyes widened slightly, as if she was surprised he remembered that conversation.

“I’m trying so hard because I do it for you. I want to stand right next to you, so I have to try. I want to protect you, I want to be your equal and not a liability. That’s why I try.”

She wanted to talk, but this time he stopped her.

“I love you, Shinka. It might be a bit too early for me to spout that out like some lost sentence, but I believe it to be truth. Yes, I keep my distance, because somewhere, I can’t believe you’d want to be with me. I’m just… me. A love-struck teenager that doesn’t know anything and simply moves on instinct. It’s merely luck that my instinct is seemingly always correct.”

He clasped her hand. “I didn’t cheat on you with Aika, nor do I plan to. It kind of hurts that you think these kinds of things of me, I’m supposed to be the insecure one.”

Her mouth worked, but no sound came out. He let go of her hand, and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. She stumbled in his embrace, and crumbled his shirt with one of her hands. She remained silent, and they held the position for what seemed an hour, although in all actuality, it was less than five minutes.

“I believe you,” finally came out of her mouth, softly, the words muffled by his chest.

“Believe what?”

“That you love me,” she raised herself up, staring him straight into his eyes. Her amber coloured eyes shined. “I… I love you too. You doofus.”

“Was that last part really necessary?” he asked, a half smile forming.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeves, although, as far as he had noticed, she hadn’t cried. “Of course, I can hardly let you think you’re the one who wears the pants in this relationship, can I?”

“Well,” he gestured to their uniforms, “I kind of am.” He smiled completely now.

“Figuratively, of course. Are you sure you’re fit to lead people?” she smiled softly. “That reminds me though, you still didn’t explain what you’ve been doing all night.”

“I… fine, I guess I could tell you, but not now, not here. Could you come over to my place tonight?” he asked.

“You mean, after school? Don’t you have to go to the office?” she asked curiously.

“No, it should be fine. In fact, it might be better if I don’t go tonight. But anyway, not after school, I’d like to shower and such before we meet up again.”

“I’m coming with you after school,” she stated, nice and simple.

“And what will you be doing while I’m showering?”

“I don’t know, watch TV? I can wait for half an hour or so, you know.”

“Alright alright, I get it,” he gave over.

“Thank you, Yuuta.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. A long kiss.

* * *

 

The bell rang, finally freeing them from class. It was only a matter of seconds before Yuuta had stuffed his books away and set out. He walked to door, ready to leave. _“Wait… Shinka, I have to wait for her.”_ He turned and saw she was wrapped up in a conversation with some other girls. He sighted and posted himself just outside the door, to wait for his girl.

Someone slipped around the corner, and crashed into him. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, noticing it was Rikka.

“Again, you numbskull, watch where you’re walking,” she growled, declining his help to get up.

“Excuse me, but you walked into me this time around. I was just standing here.”

“You were standing in my damn way, that’s what you were,” she glared at him.

“Then maybe you should watch out were you walk,” he answered, keeping his face straight.

“Whatever, have fun with your little bitch tonight,” she  tried to walk past him. He didn’t let her. “Get out of my way!”

“No. What’s up with you Rikka? I know you and Shinka don’t always get along, but I’m not going to let you call her bitch right in my face,” he asked, anger sneaking into his tone.

“What is it to you? You don’t even care about anyone but yourself! You’ve just been using me as a training partner!” People started gathering around them.

“Who says I don’t consider you a friend? And either way, that does not give you any right to call her a bitch!”

“I call her a bitch because she is a bitch, just as much as you’re a fucking asshole!”

“Stop calling her a bitch! Do you not want to be friends or something? You’re not playing your cards very right if you do want to! Do you think we invite you to lunch with us, that we talk with you, that we exchanged addresses and mail each other for nothing?”

She gritted her teeth and pushed past him. He grabbed her arm. “Answer me, Rikka, damn it!”

“Dude, calm down.” Makoto tapped his shoulder. Yuuta glanced around and saw the crowd gathered around them. He let go of Rikka, and she slipped through the crowd immediately.

“What was up?” Makoto asked, as the crowd started to dissipate slowly, although some stayed around, questions in their eyes. Including Nibutani. He inhaled deeply, banding his emotions down again. Calm once more he waved to Shinka.

“What was up, Yuuta? I heard you screaming from the inside,” she asked. She seemed a bit worried.

“I…” he ran his hand through his hair, “I don’t exactly know, to be honest. She ran into me, started verbally attacking me and called you a bitch. I kind of just responded in kind.” He sighed. “I’ve been dumb.”

“You’re dumb so often Yuuta!” Isshiki tried to lighten the mood.

“I swear Isshiki, how can someone so bad at reading moods be a competent spy?”

“He did have a point though. You do get wrapped up in emotions pretty quickly.” Nibutani looked thoughtful.

“And I am a competent spy, thank you very much. I’m so good even you guys hardly notice it when I’m around.”

“Why so thoughtful, Shinka?” Yuuta asked, ignoring Makoto.

“Huh? Nothing, I was just lost in thought for a moment there.”

“We off then?” Yuuta asked.

“Yeah.” She clasped his hand and they left Isshiki behind.

“Damn you lovey dovey people!” he threw at them, but they just kept ignoring him. He ran after them, and grabbed Yuuta by the shoulder.

“What is it, Isshiki?” Yuuta asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Listen man, I can’t train with you anymore. At least for a while.”

The couple turned at that. “Why?” Yuuta asked, curious.

“I have a job from the higher-ups,” Nibutani opened her mouth, “one that even you can’t override Nibutani.”

“What is your job this time around?” Yuuta wondered.

“I can’t say much. I need to locate a certain target. We aren’t allowed to spread any information. I can’t say anything more to you, Yuuta.”

“Does it have anything to do with what Taka… with what Kennou-san announced last council?” Nibutani asked him. Yuuta glanced, noticing the trip she made.

Isshiki simply nodded.

“Who’s Kennou-san?” Yuuta asked of them. Both grew silent for a second.

“Someone that has nothing to do with you,” Nibutani eventually said.

“So, you can tell me about him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t have to worry about him just yet. Leave it be, will you? You curious bastard,” Nibutani answered.

“Is there really a need for name calling? But fine, I’ll let it go,” Yuuta sighed, his girlfriend could glare like a champ when she feels like it.

“Well… I’m off then!” Isshiki walked away in the awkward moment between them.

“You chased him off,” Yuuta said

“I did not!” Nibutani exclaimed.

“You did though, but, shall we be off as well. I smell and I’d really like that shower now.”

She laughed.

* * *

 

“Hey brother! Oh I see Nibutani-san is here as well.” Kuzuha welcomed them home.

“Hey Kuzuha-san,” Nibutani smiled at his sister.

“Welp, Kuzuha, do me a favour, keep her entertained while I take a shower,” Yuuta sprinted away before she could object.

“Why do I have to do it?!” she yelled, unheard by him.

“Don’t worry about it, Kuzuha-san, I’m quite used to your brothers… shortcomings by now. I’ll just watch a bit of TV or something.”

“I’ll join you, I don’t have anything to do anyway. Want a drink?” the younger girl asked.

“Sure, uhm… some cola should be fine,” Nibutani walked over to the couch.

A minute or so later, Kuzuha plodded into the couch, and handed her a glass. The young girl picked up the remote. “What do you want to see?” she asks, as she turns the TV on.

“Whatever, I doubt he’ll be in the shower long.”

“You don’t know my brother that well then,” she snorted, “he’ll be away for at least half an hour.”

She sighed, but waved with her hand, “Still, you pick, I don’t really care.”

The girl started switching channels and eventually settled on a western vampire movie. “I love this movie,” the girl said.

Nibutani arched her eyebrow, _“Seriously? A movie about sparkling vampires? Well, she is the demographic they’re aiming for after all.”_

And so they watched. Just when Nibutani started tuning out completely the girl asked something.

“What is it you like about my brother?”

“I… He’s funny, and nice, and pretty cute too.”

“Is he really cute?” she asked, her face flabbergasted.

“Well, I think he is…” Nibutani didn’t like this.

“I thinks he’s a doofus. You should have seen him last year, always wearing this weird black leather stuff, and way too many belts for a sane person. That’s even forgetting the air pressure rifle and giant sword he tried to carry around everywhere.”

“Well… then he’s changed a lot,” she said.

“Would you have been dating him if he still acted like that?” the girl asked, pausing the movie.

“I think I would… I mean, he would still be about the same except a whole lot dorkier right?”

“No… he was super serious about it. He knew this girl, and she joined him in his weird delusions. We thought for a while they’d start going out but then the pink-haired oddball moved away.”

“Pink hair? Please tell me it’s not Shichimiya?”

“It was? Do you know her?”

“She was a student in the same middle school as me for some time. After she moved from here then I guess,” Nibutani reluctantly explained.

“Really? Was she still as odd as she was around him?”

“I think so?” she said, while thinking back to those days. Shichimiya had always been bragging about this guy she knew, that would one day be the strongest ability user they’d ever meet. Or at least that’s what the souls from the otherworld said to her. Nibutani shivered slightly. Those were not souls you captured without losing some of your sanity in the process.

“From you shivers I’m guessing yes. She ran around calling Yuusha and toching his nose with hers constantly. We were really surprised that they weren’t dating.”

“Well, she did that with all her close friends at one point. Even with me.”

“Really, you were friends with Shichimiya? I guess I can see why you like my brother now.”

“Oh come on… he’s not so bad, is he?”

“I guess, he’s become more normal lately… and he is pretty smart, he always helps me when I need it so… he’s not that bad.”

“What’re you girls talking about?” Yuuta entered the room, drying his hair with a towel.

“Nothing!” Nibutani immediately answered.

Yuuta narrowed his eyes, his look moving from Nibutani to his grinning younger sister.

“We were actually talking about how much of a dumbass you are,” the smile persisting on Kuzuha’s face.

“Oh really? Did you also tell her that this dumbass has to help you with your homework all the time? Doesn’t that make you the bigger dumbass?” he answered, plodding himself down next to Nibutani.

“At least I’m not such a moron that I forget to offer my friend a drink when she comes to my place.”

“I… Fair enough,” he surrendered with a sigh. “Thank you, Kuzuha. Do you have any clue when mom will be back?”

“Regular hours today, so call her to say Nibutani-san is here. She’ll need to adjust the grocery list.”

“I’m not staying for…” she glanced at Yuuta, who looked at her curiously. “Well… I guess I can stay for dinner.”

“Don’t forget to call your father then, I’d rather not he tried to kill me next time I see him,” Yuuta laughed.

“Is her father that scary, Yuuta?” Kuzuha chimed in.

“The man is huge! And he has the shoulders and neck of a bull!” Yuuta exaggerated, and started laughing.

“He’s not that bad, Yuuta!” Shinka pushed him.

He tumbled over, and just laughed for a bit longer before sitting upright again. “You’ll be okay here, right Kuzuha?”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll just watch the movie. Don’t forget to call mom, I’m not doing it for you,” she said.

“I’m calling her now,” he said, retrieving his phone from his pocket and getting up from the couch. “You should call your place too,” he said to Nibutani as he motioned her to follow.

Nibutani nodded, and got her phone from her bag, and following him to his room.

“Hi mom, yeah, yeah I’m home,… got it…,” Yuuta was already in conversation with his mom when she caught up with him in the hallway. “Yeah, mom, I’m actually calling because Shinka is staying over for dinner. Yes, she’s here right now. Mom, come on, I’m not a child anymore. Okay… Love you too. Bye!”

“And you’re in the clear with my mom,” he grinned, opening the door to his room. She walked in, dialling her father.

“Yes, Shinka?” her father’s voice sounded over the phone.

“Hi dad, I’m staying over at Yuuta’s for dinner, is that okay?” she asked.

“I’d rather not have you alone with him, he’s a guy after all.”

“His sister is here too. And I’ve been alone with him many times already.”

She heard her father sigh heavily on the other side. “Fine, have fun. I’m too busy to have dinner with you anyway. The Temple Council is in upheaval, everyone is pointing fingers, and trying to find out who hid the Dark Flame Master.”

“Did you find anything?” she asked.

A short silence followed. “No,” he eventually said. She was immediately suspicious.

“What did you figure out?” she tried to convey her glare through her voice.

“Nothing. I’ll see you home around ten… or do you want me to get someone to bring you a change of clothes?”

“No!” Yuuta looked at her, surprised at her sudden loud voice. “I’m not spending the night with him, dad,” her voice quiet, hoping Yuuta wouldn’t hear. He seemed to have not to, and was laying out a map over the floor.

“I would hope so, but you might not have wanted to come home since his house is closer to the station than ours. I’ll send a car around at …?”

“Nine. Oh, and you’re telling me what you’ve found out tonight too.” She dropped the call. Yuuta passed her, and grabbed his pillow from his bed, throwing it down on the carpeted floor.

“Sit,” he motioned to the pillow.

She complied. He sat across from her. She looked over the map, recognizing it as the map dividing the patrol districts.

“I’m listening,” she says.

Yuuta started talking, explaining the plan to snare the Second into an alliance. She listened attentively, not interrupting him.

“This is not a bad plan… how will you prevent from it leaking though?”

He laughed softly, “Aika asked as well, you see, first of all, only Aika and me know the scope of the plan, well and Walter, but that’s beside the point.” He explained about the rumour they were spreading with the orders, and how they thought they would keep the contents of the plan secret.

“Pride. A good pick. It’s an emotion most ability users have a bit too much off.”

He beamed at her compliment.

“Make sure you don’t fall in the same pit,” she said.

He faltered.

“I’m surprised, Yuuta. I hardly think anyone else so recently promoted would immediately start up things like this. It’s… odd, since, even just a month ago, you had no idea this world even existed.”

He shrugged, “I have good teachers I guess. I just see it as a huge chess game. Anticipating counter moves, changing your plans, making sure you have back up. It’s all the same, just on a bigger scale.”

“You do realize, that, maybe not now, but you might put people’s lives at risk, don’t you?”

“Like I said, make sure you have back up. Increasing the patrol size and keeping the higher ranks as a strike force should protect the lives of everyone.”

“You can’t always do that. You don’t always have the luxury to keep troops from the field.”

“I…” he looked a bit distraught. She could almost see him running over the plans he’d made, looking for the place he made the mistake, where he was going to lose people.

“I’m just reminding you, Yuuta. It’s been rather peaceful, but not that long ago there was constant war between the temples.”

“I understand,” he seemed to relax.

She glanced at her phone, and noticed more than an hour had passed. “Well, it’s been an hour, is your mom home? I’d like to at least say hi before joining your dinner table.”

He looked surprised. “It’s been an hour already? But, yeah… she should be here about now.” He got up, extending a hand toward her, which she gladly took. He pulled her upright.

He bend down to pick up the map, rolling it and returning it to the tube it had been in. They left the room and walked into the living room.

Kuzuha was still watching her movie, but the other sister, Yumeha, was running around. She squealed in joy when she noticed her brother and immediately latched around his legs. He smiled and tussled her hair.

“Who’s she, brother?” the little girl asked, pointing up at Nibutani.

“She’s my girlfriend, you’ve seen her before, remember?” Yuuta explained.

She seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding. She let go of his leg and walked closer to Nibutani. The older girl followed her with her eyes, a smile plastered on her lips. Young kids were always a weak point for her.

“Hi Nibuta… tani-san!” the girl shyly said, tripping over the her name.

Nibutani sank through her knees, coming to about eye level with the younger girl. “Hello Yumeha-san, you may call me Shinka,” she extended a hand to the girl.

The girl didn’t quite seem to get it, and slung her arms around Nibutani’s neck. “I like you, Shinka-san!” Nibutani turned her head slightly, trying to save her ears from the loud girl in her arms. Yuuta watched the scene enfold with a smile.

“Alright, Yumeha, Shinka’s staying for dinner so you can play with her later, but we want to go talk with mom now.”

“Ok, brother,” the girl said. She ran off, and started talking to Kuzeha, whose movie just ended. They walked toward the kitchen where his mother was busy working with the food. Nevertheless, she noticed them approaching.

“Hey Yuuta, hey Nibutani-san, how are you two? You’ve spend some time in Yuuta’s room,” she said, with a wink at the end.

Nibutani flushed slightly, but responded quickly, “I’ve been well, thank you for letting me stay over for dinner.”

“It’s not a problem, cooking for one more person makes it feel like Yuuta’s father is here. Did Yuuta tell you he works in Jakarta?”

“He did. At least, I seem to remember him mentioning it at some time.”

“I did!” Yuuta said, his voice muffled behind a cabinet door. He moved around his cooking mother with plates and started setting the table.

“Where is the cutlery?” Nibutani asked, as she moved up to help him set the table.

* * *

 

“Ugh… your mom’s a great cook,” Nibutani dropped on the bed, clutching her stomach, as if it would explode.

“You should mention that to her. Did you overeat?” he plopped down next to her.

“I might have,” she said, grinning.

“Well, good thing you have people at your beck and call to drive you around.”

“So do you, Yuuta. I seem to remember someone not taking the train this morning.”

He smiled innocently. She punched his shoulder.

“Yeah, you know that doesn’t work.”

He smiled. That boyish smile she like so much. She kissed him, enveloping him in her arms. He answered immediately, holding her tight around her waist, pulling her closer at her neck, his hand running through her hair.

Slowly, she felt him pushing her down, laying her on the bed. She didn’t stop him. They stopped to breathe for a second, and in that slight distraction, she turned the tables on him. Rolling over, she landed on top, her skirt bunching around her waist.

Yuuta looked dazed, and she felt herself losing control as well. He pulled her down, back into their kiss. Time seemed to slow down. She wanted to stop, but some part of her, growing in strength, didn’t. Her hands began to wander over his chest, as his hands started gliding down from their position at her waist.

She pushed away. She tore herself away. Tightly grabbing her self-control back, she climbed off him. She sat herself back on the edge of the bed. It was only then she noticed that they were breathing hard. She tidied her skirt, covering herself properly.

“I’m sorry,” silently, a whisper came through his harsh breath.

She scrambled for her magic, engulfing her in her core. Controlling the mana flows in her body, she calmed herself, slowing her heart.

“You’re not to blame. After all boys will be boys,” she smiled, turning her head to look at him.

His eyes were covered with his arm. His other arm laid next to him, the fist clenched. He was struggling to keep in control.

“I didn’t mind, you know?” she said, silent as his first whisper, “In fact, I liked it.”

He lifted his arm, his green eyes turned to her. His fist loosened. “Still, I shouldn’t have.”

“Excuse me mister, do you really think you’d be able to do this without me allowing it? I’m pretty sure I was just as much part of it as you were,” she scolded him.

He grinned, “I guess that’s true.” He joined her at the edge of the bed, sighing loudly.

“What?” she scowled.

“I don’t know. Somehow it’s funny to me how disjointed our lives are.”

She stared at him blankly. “What?” she repeated.

“I mean, two hours ago, we were deeply planning war strategies and discussing the lives of hundreds of people. And now we’re two stupid teenagers, who are struggling to have control over their urges.”

“You think about these things too much,” she pushed him over. “We’re teenagers, yes. Our relationship is new, young, and we’re both not horribly experienced on the area. That being said, at least one of us is ridiculously powerful for her age, and the other is not bad either. Beside that fact, I’ve also been trained since I was five to be in the position I have now. Two entirely different things.”

“Are you bragging right now?” he asked, grinning again, the mood seemingly passed.

“Oh shut up,” she hit him with his pillow.

“What time are they picking you up?” his muffled voice passed through the pillow.

The bell rang. She glanced at the clock on his night stand. “Now, they’re picking me up now.”

He jumped up, and they kissed goodbye while still in his room. They walked through the living room, where Kuzuha and Yuuta’s mother both waved goodbye, when they passed, Yumeha being tucked into bed. He opened the door for her, where one of the driver’s stood.

“Good evening, Togashi-sama, Nibutani-sama,” he bowed slightly. “I’m here to drive Nibutani-sama home.”

“We know,” Nibutani said with a sigh, “Why else would you be here?”

The man ignored the question, turning to Yuuta. “Togashi-sama, Nashima-sama asked me to deliver you this,” he handed him a folder.

Nibutani looked curiously at the folder. Yuuta opened it quickly and groaned.

“What is it?”

“I won’t be on the train tomorrow either,” he said.

“Why?” she asked.

“Something went wrong somewhere, Aika is going to fill me in tomorrow.”

She nodded, “I’ll see you at the temple then?”

“Isn’t that completely out of your way?”

“You’ll be using a car anyway, we’ll still have the drive to school together then.”

“Fine, fine. Meet you there at… eight? It’ll probably be over by then.”

“Ok,” she kissed him quickly on the cheek, and started off down the stairs. The chauffeur quickly followed.

He turned inward, and opened the folder again.

He read the little note. “ _Kazuma sends one. Tomorrow at seven. Don’t be late.”_

He read the name silently, as he entered his room once more. “Shiho Maiko…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello, and welcome back to the end of a chapter. So far so good for the monthly update thing I promised. Honestly, I didn't think I'd make it. Lots and lots of schoolwork has been weighing me down. I am however, getting somewhat of a writer mentality, I'm able to sit down and write whenever I want now, instead of waiting on my fickle mistress, the muse that loves to hate me. Anyway, last chapter was about the temple, this chapter was about the people. Yuuta and Nibutani's relationship, Rikka's struggles with her stigma, and in the background the churning chaos that's building in the temple council. I feel quite happy how this chapter turned out, although I did want to force some more stuff into it, I feel it would have fallen apart then. But look at me rambling on and on. I'll say goodbye now, leave a review if you have the time, I love reading them, and as always
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	13. Rising Tides

****

**12: Rising Tides**

He regarded the messenger in front of him. _“Finally,”_ he thought. He had been waiting for this messenger since his plan had begun. The man handed him a blue envelope. He studied the man for a bit longer, seeing if he was in the list of possible compatriots of Nara Yuuji, but dismissed as he didn’t recognize him from the descriptions Maiko and Kazuma had given him.

The messenger walked out, and Yuuta settled back into his chair. He had been surprised that Kazuma had found someone so quickly to help him. Kazuma had been there when he met her too. He said he had tested her somehow, and had found her trustworthy.

The woman had been odd. She acted like she was his age, although she was quite a bit older then him. He had talked with her for a bit, seeing if he could figure out what Kazuma’s test had been about. She had not spilled a word about it, although she had shown some irritation. When he had asked her why, she had said, “I hate that he played me like that. Like I’m some kind of chatty harlot.”

They had laughed right then. He had decided to fill her in. She didn’t blink an eye, as he explained what he was planning. “Now I see why Kazuma thought you were interesting, Togashi-sama,” she had said, “I don’t like working against other people that are supposed to be our allies. But, I guess, I can see your point. If Kazuma trust you, I will too.”

Yuuta had called Kazuma in, and had given them an extra assignment. They had to create a cypher for the network. He didn’t want any information leaking in any way.

“Aren’t you going to open that, Togashi-sama?” Maiko entered his office, her twin tails swishing from side to side.

“I was thinking about when I met you,” he said.

“Was it such a special moment for you then? I guess you don’t meet such a pretty girl of your age every day,” she smiled innocently.

He shook his head slightly, “Did you recognise the man leaving?” he asked, not wanting to get into an argument.

“Yes, he’s a transfer from one of the other Divisions,” she said, dropping two folders on his desk.

“And this is?” he gestured.

“The cypher you requested. Every message you get from us will be in this cypher, learn it by heart, and then destroy it.”

“Got it. If you’re here anyway, learned anything new or useful?” he was stalling, the letter on his desk was what he had been waiting for, but he wasn’t completely sure he was ready for the next part.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s the pressure you’ve been putting on him or is he’s discovered us, but he’s been using other scribes. We’re still able to locate where the ‘orders’ go, at least as far as the Central Archives, but they change multiple hands now before they get there.”

“Has there been any sign of discovery?” he asked, if he had been discovered, this would be even harder.

“No, I don’t think we have been discovered. The only people that I’ve seen both around here and in the Second Section are unaffiliated scribes, as far as we can determine at least, and one of your Captains.”

“One of mine? Who?”

“The old guy… Manata I believe his name is. I ran into him last Monday.”

“When?”

“He came out of the group office late at night. He ran into me, literally.”

“What was he doing there?”

“He didn’t say, he hardly thinks scribes are worth noting. He was nice, but you could see he didn’t actually care.”

“Care? Manata is incredibly caring. I hardly think he doesn’t care.”

“Well, than he’s a good actor, either to you or me.”

“I don’t believe he’s a spy. I asked him to help me with this endeavour and he completely pushed it off. If he was spying on us, he’d have wanted to be in, right?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Yuuta felt uncomfortable. If Manata was spying for Nara, he’d know that Yuuta planned something. He might even know what. When he picked up the letter, it seemed heavier than it had only a minute ago.

Maiko came glancing over his shoulder, but after he cast her a glare, she walked back over to the front of the desk.

He broke the seal. He retrieved the letter from inside.

* * *

 

_Esteemed colleague_

_My name is Nara Yuuji, I am the Captain-Commandant of the Second Section. We have not met yet, but I’m in dire need of support._

_It’s come to my attention that my Section is unable to keep up with their current workload.  My men have been wrung out, and in their exhaustion have made mistakes. These have not yet become costly, but there have been some injuries, and just today, one of them nearly lost an arm._

_This situation has to be rectified, and if possible, I’d like you to send some troops to serve under my jurisdiction until the threat is cleared. Please send a note back as fast as you can. I can meet you at a moment’s notice._

_Signed_

_Nara Yuuji_

* * *

 

Yuuta sighed in relief. It’s all happening according to the plan.

“Maiko, sent Nashima-san in, and then run over to the second, and tell them I’m coming momentarily,” Yuuta commanded.

The woman bowed slightly and then left. A minute later, Aika walked in.

“Is it what we hoped for?” she asked immediately.

“Yes, we’re going over there now. I want you to come with me.” He handed her the letter.

She skimmed it quickly. “The least you could say about him is that he has a flair for writing. I don’t like the fact that he wants to place some of ours under his power though.”

“Yeah, I don’t either, but that’ll just give me more of a reason to go over there, to discuss the terms of this ‘temporary’ alliance. I have some plans for that,” he tapped a black folder on his desk.

“I know that. If you remember, I was the one who did most of that writing. You may have dictated it, but I wrote it,” she said. “Either way, when are we going?”

“When Maiko returns, we’ll go. Let’s give him a bit of time to prepare.”

“And let him lure us in a trap?”

“This is the linchpin of the whole plan. If I don’t seem trustworthy, he might still sign this thing, but his soldiers won’t agree with it. I need to seem a better leader than he is.”

“You say seem a lot. So far you’ve been pretty trustwothy, and I’m pretty sure you’re a better leader than he is. He bought his men’s loyalty.”

“I haven’t done much to earn the loyalty of ours either. Most of them just follow me because you do.”

“You can’t be a friend of everyone. Trust cascades. They trust me, and I trust you, so they trust you as well.”

“So far you’ve been right,” he grimaced.

“Come on Yuuta, how many of the other Captain-Commandants do you think have the open door policy you have? Just yesterday you spend a whole hour talking with a Lieutenant. You were doing some work in the meantime, but still. He’ll relay that to his underlings as well,” she admonished him.

He sighed. “I know. This whole thing is stressing me out though. Somehow I feel like I’m forgetting something important, and I’m scared it has something to do with this.”

“I’ve only known you for a week. In that time, you’ve beaten me and seven other at the same time, you’ve rebuild the command chain of this section, created a plan to bring another section begging at your heels, formed an alliance with another through Walter, discovered a plan that might endanger a superior, and set up a, if small, spy group. And still you worry. If there was anything wrong with the plan, you’d have noticed by now.”

He rubbed his forehead. “I’m just a teenager. I know I’ve been… somewhat imposing on everyone here, but I’m still just a teenager. Do you really expect me to believe I didn’t make any mistakes?”

“So what if you’re a teenager? So is Nibutani-sama, and she’s quite a bit ahead of you still.”

“True. I guess I’m just anxious.”

“No reason for you to be anxious. I’m with you as well and even I have nothing to fear from him.”

“Be on the lookout anyway,” Yuuta said, “you don’t know what he might have planned. Like you said, he might lay a trap for us.”

Maiko knocked and stuck her head into the room, “They’re ready for you now.”

Yuuta shoved the cypher into his desk, and locked the drawer. Nashima her eyes filled with the unspoken question.  
  
“I’ll explain later,” he answered, rising from the desk. He picked up the black folder, which he handed to Aika. “Let’s go.”

They marched off, manoeuvring through the maze-like hallways, with Maiko leading the way. It did not take them long to walk into the territory of the Second.

The entered the large group office, and were greeted with silence. The five captains did not spare them more than a glance, and continued working. It was different from his section, where laughter often sounded. The atmosphere felt oppressive.

A short man left the Captain-Commandant’s office, Yuuta recognised him as Fujii Dai, one of the eight Captains he had fought during his initiation. The man showed an odd toothy grin, before greeting them.

“Ah, Togashi-sama, Nara-sama is waiting for you. You may enter immediately,” he gestured to the door.

Yuuta nodded at the man, and walked into the office.

* * *

 

He had those eyes again. She sighed in relief. They were going to be okay. No one could lay a thing in his path when he had those eyes.

She followed her commander into the small office, familiar, but not completely. In comparison to Yuuta’s bare office, this one was decorated to the point of ridiculousness. The archive cabinets had been taken out, and had been replaced by giant antique closets. The curtains, a drab grey in their office, were satin and a blood red colour here. The desk was expertly carved, coloured white, and finished with golden decorations reminiscent of grape vines. The chair behind it was a massive thing, and equally decorated.

The only thing that did not show the wealth of the person occupying the office were the two chairs in front of the desk. Small chairs that reminded her of those she used to have in her middle school.

Her commander didn’t care for chairs though. He strode up to the desk leaning on it, and towering over the blond man occupying the throne. She had felt that gaze on her, and was impressed that the man didn’t flinch.

“Togashi Yuuta! You are as impressive as I have heard,” the man said.

“What is this farce of you wanting to take some of my subordinates to fix your problems?” Yuuta asked, ignoring the man.

“Please, Togashi-san, sit. Would you like some tea or something?” The man said gesturing to the chairs.

She took that as her moment to approach, and sat herself down. The man only then seemed to notice her.

“I see you’ve brought Nashima-san as well,” he turned to her, “would you like anything to drink?”

“I’m only here to accompany Togashi-sama,” she said, blankly. She did not like this man, not after all the reports they’d gotten from Yamishita.

“Ah,” he coughed, “well then. Let’s discuss business.”

Yuuta flicked his leg, moving the chair, and sat down in one fluid movement.

“Talk.”

“Well,” the man said, slightly showing how unnerved he was because of Yuuta’s demeanour, “I simply need some soldiers to help my patrols. The Otherworldly creatures are plentiful, and we are unable to push them back as we should. I need more men.”

“I will not put any of my men under your command, but I am willing to help you. Here are the conditions of my help.”

She heard her queue, and pushed the black folder toward Nara. He raised an eyebrow, but settled back against his chair, opening the folder. His eyes started scanning the contract quickly, his eyebrows furrowing the further he got. Even before he finished the first page of the contract, he closed the folder and discarded it onto the desk in between them.

“You storm into my office, albeit on invitation, decline my hospitality, and decline putting your men under me, and yet you dare, dare, to ask this of me?” the man was not able to complete disguise his annoyance any longer. Yuuta was unnerved.

“Nara-san, you demanded my help. I refuse to give in to that demand, but have produced a counter offer that’ll solve your issue. Be glad I’m willing to do that.”

“Don’t act like a petulant teenager. It’s hypocritical of you to expect from me to sign over my whole Section if you refuse to hand over a few of your men. And not just that, you ask that this situation will persist until you deem that the situation is solved!” Nara raised his voice, “I’m not an idiot, no matter what you’ve heard from your little compatriots over in the Ninth. If I would give into this demand, you’d never give power back.”

“That’s true, I would not let these men suffer under your command anymore.”

“Suffer? Simply because the patrols haven’t been going well this period? I’ve been in this game a lot longer then you boy.”

Yuuta smiled, “That might be true, but even someone as narcissistic as you must be aware of my connections. If your Section crumbles, I’ll simply swoop it up afterward.”

“Then why are you here?” Nara loses his patience, slamming his hands on the desk.

Yuuta rises from his chair. “Simply put? I was curious. Whether or not you give in to my demands now, this Section will follow my command one day. The only difference will be the leader. Either you give in now, and you may do what you wish in this office until I decide to discard you, or until you get discarded by the Majors.” Yuuta shrugged, “I hardly care.”

Nara chuckled. “Yes, I’ve heard of your involvement with the Nibutani family. I also know that neither of them would help you gain rank.”

“Oh, that’s not who I was talking about. I’m sure you’ve heard of my meeting with your former Commander. He spoke… lukewarm about you at best.”

“You did not meet Major Renzo. I would have known if you did.”

“And how would you? Has the honourable Nara-san been spying on me?” Yuuta mocked the man, driving him into a corner. Now came the most difficult part of the plan. Yuuta had not met with Renzo Jin. If Nara believed them, he would have to sign. If Nara didn’t, their plan would fail.

“Boy, I would hardly dedicate the resources to spy on you and your cohorts,” Nara tried to coax Yuuta into arguing with him.

“Well then, you can’t know, now can you? Either way, I’m off. Think the contract over,” Yuuta walked away, and stopped just before the door, “I expect an answer somewhere between now and tomorrow evening. If I do not receive it, I will operate on the conclusion that you decided to destroy your own Section.”

* * *

 

Yuuta crumbled into his chair, sighing deeply.

“Are you okay?” Nashima asked.

“Yes. Yeah, I’m fine. Did I do okay? Do you think he’ll agree?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think he liked us very much though.”

“That, that I can agree on. Could you do me a favour?”

“You’re my superior, I kind of have to,” Aika joked.

Yuuta chuckled, “Could you send someone to get me some tea, I don’t care what, and send someone to Nibutani Shinka asking if she could come by. Also see if Yamishita has anymore candidates ready to join our group. I need some more eyes and ears. We also have to figure out a way to intercept the payments Nara is making without giving ourselves away.” Yuuta rubbed his forehead.

“Three of those things I can do right now. The others are a bit harder,” she smiled. “You did good,” she quickly said before leaving the office again.

Another sigh left him. It had taken quite a lot to not let his emotions reign him during that conversation. In a way, he hoped that Nara wouldn’t sign the contract, so that he didn’t have to deal with that snake anymore until he was ready to destroy him.

He had to figure out a way to have that same presence all the time, instead of just when he thought it was needed. People were becoming less and less impressionable by the day, probably because they see him stumble about here constantly. It drained him though. He had to become harder. Harder than steel.

He retrieved the cypher from his desk and looked over the structure Kazuma and Maiko decided on. It seemed to be based on a Vigenere cypher, with a transposition layered on top. Relatively easy to understand if you have the key, slightly more difficult without. At the very least they were smart enough to layer two encryption techniques.

The transposition was determined by the function y = 2x – 3. After that you would have to run the transposed code through a Vigenere cypher for which the keyword was one of 26 that would be determined by the first encrypted letter.

He would need to study these for a time before he knew them by heart. He also had to make sure both Walter got the same cypher so they could relay information to each other. He started studying the keywords, and practiced encoding some short messages.

When he heard a silent knock a little later, he simply said, “enter,” expecting it to be Aika with their tea. He was surprised when he saw it was Manata who stuck his head through the door.

“Do you have a bit of time for me, Togashi-sama?”

“Sure,” Yuuta smiled, sweeping the cypher under some of the clutter on his desk, acting like he was making some room on it. “What is it, Manata-san?”

“I wanted to know how your meeting with Nara-sama went,” he closed the door behind him.

“Well, Nashima-san says it went well.”

“You don’t?” the man asked, as he sat in the chair on the opposite side of Yuuta.

“No. Well, maybe. I don’t think we accomplished what we went there to do, but I do think I’ve learned something valuable.”

“What did you learn then?”

“Manata-san, you asked me to keep you out all of this. Don’t go prodding yourself.”

The man coughed to hide his apparent embarrassment. “You’re right off course Togashi-sama.”

“Anything else I can help you with?” Yuuta asked.

“I hear you had a conversation with my old mentor. If I’d have known I’d have asked you to bring him my regards.”

“Your old mentor? I hardly doubt you have an old mentor, Manata-san.”

The man laughed softly. “Well, he’s not technically older than me I guess. But he was my mentor when I first joined this temple a couple of decades ago.”

“Who was it then, I might meet with him again,” Yuuta asked.

“Renzo Jin-sama.”

“The previous Captain-Commandant of the Second?” Yuuta questioned, his voice lowering, he felt his hand clenching into a fist on his desk.

“Yes yes, so, did you meet with him? Or are those rumours just a load of bollocks?”

“Manata-san, do you think I’m an idiot?” Yuuta’s voice was silent, glowering.

“Why do you ask that, Togashi-sama?” the man seemed undisturbed.

“You spy for Nara, do you not?”

“You hear that from that blonde scribe?”

“I’m the one asking questions here!” Yuuta’s voice thundered, his cropped emotions no longer in control.

Manata answered with a smile. “See, I knew you did not have such a tight rein on your emotions. You’re after all a teenager.”

“Manata. Tell me what you’re involvement is with the Second.”

“The Second? I’m involved with the temple, that is corrupt to its core.”

“So you help the corruption?”

“No!” Manata looked astonished. “I help banish the corruption within the temple by aiding Nara-sama.”

“What is this corruption you fight then?”

“Oh, you and the Takanashi family would be grand examples. Lording your power over us, keeping us small and tame, keeping us out of the loop.”

“Manata, you’re an idiot,” Yuuta said, calming.

“Oh, and why is that?”

“Well, you shouldn’t have revealed yourself to be a spy in the first place, nor should you have challenged me if your fear that I would ‘lord’ my power over you. Your beliefs in corruption are misplaced.”

“You would have me believe that Nara is corrupt?” the man scoffed.

“Nara has been feeding money to the scribes and clerks of the central archives, to bring Renzo-san in discredit and take his place.”

“Then he must believe Renzo is corrupt as well.”

“Do you not see, Nara himself is after power. Did you see that throne the pompous prick uses?”

“He does not have the natural gift of power that you have, so he has to seem more powerful in more mundane ways, like money.”

“Manata, I dismiss you from this temple.”

The man laughed, “You can’t do that.”

“I can, and I just did. At the very least, I will throw you out of my section.”

“And who would keep Nairo under control for you? He only listens to me.”

Now it was Yuuta’s turn to laugh, “Don’t worry, I know how to keep Nairo at my heel for now, but since you no longer have a place here, I expect you to leave.”

The man stood up, “Very well then. You’ll still see me around though.”

“I’m sure I will,” Yuuta smiled slightly.

Manata left. Yuuta’s mind started whirring into action. _Nara must have really wanted to know whether I spoke with Renzo or not, to reveal his spy so easily. He didn’t seem that stupid though. He has someone else lurking somewhere, probably within the lower ranks, but high enough to not be informed of the kiting action the patrols are taking. I need to pay attention who I pull up to Captain rank._

“I can hear the gears in your head churning from outside,” a woman’s voice entered the room.

His smile brightened as he looked up to see the amber coloured eyes of Shinka, who was, just like him, still wearing a school uniform. “Well hello to my humble part of this complex.”

She closed the door and walked over to him, “Why’d you call me out here, we could have met in my office.”

“I had some work to do and I know you stay behind as long as I’m here, especially lately. Keeping an eye on me?”

“Naturally. I know what kind of things you’re trying to accomplish. I kind of want to make sure you don’t get yourself actually killed. You spoke with this… whatever his name was, the guy from the Second?”

“Yeah, he didn’t break. Not that I expected him to, but hoping couldn’t hurt.”

“You are such an optimist.”

“I guess I am.”

‘So, what now?” she asked.

“Now I wait. I gave him until tomorrow to answer.”

“So, we’re going home now?” she asked, her eyes sparkling happily. It wasn’t that late yet so if they went home now, they’d be able to spend some more time together.

“In a minute. I need to get some orders prepared, finalise kicking out Manata, and promote one of the lieutenants to take his position.”

“Manata? I thought you liked that old guy?”

“Turns out he works for Nara. He thinks you and your father are corrupting the temple and that Nara will cleanse it.”

“His age must be catching up with him,” she said, annoyance audible in her voice, “I could just completely kick him out of the temple, you know?”

“Don’t, Nara seems to trust him, and I could use that.”

“Fine.”

Yuuta retrieved the cypher from underneath the stack of papers, as well as some empty black envelopes and folders. Quickly encrypting two orders for Kazuma, he then stuffed the cypher in his bag. Nibutani followed along, saw it was a cypher, shrugged and let him work for a second.

He then began writing the Manata’s dismissal from his section, signed it, and moved it over to her. She raised her eyebrow but signed as well.

A knock came, and Aika entered, carrying three steaming cups of tea. “Nibutani-sama,” she offered a cup to her first.

Nibutani graciously accepted. “Yuuta, you have until my tea is finished, then we’re leaving.”

“Yes, shogun-sama,” he smiled.

She took the chair in the corner and sipped happily from her tea.

“Yuuta-san, Kazuma send two more,” Aika announced. “He says they’ve been tested as well.”

“Good good, get them in here, I need to get a messages out to him anyway.”

“Are you just going to trust them?” Aika asked, looking surprised.

“Well, I trust Kazuma, and if Kazuma trusts them,” Yuuta shrugged, “trust cascades, right? Either way I’m too tired and too pressed for time to test them myself.”

Nashima called out, and two older men entered. _“What’s with all the twins in this temple_ , _”_ Yuuta thought as he regarded the men. Short cropped brown hair, and clean shaven, they both looked like some protagonist in a romantic comedy.

“Nuevo Zekaro,” Aika pointed to the left man, “and Saropo Shigo.”

“Wait, you guys aren’t twins?” Yuuta asked, astonished.

“No, Togashi-sama, though we hear that quite a lot,” Zekaro’s voice was deep.

“We’ve been friends since middle school, and even then we looked alike,” Shigo’s voice was higher pitched, almost as if he’d been inhaling helium.

“Well, I trust Yamishita-san has explained why you are here?”

The men nodded.

“See Nashima-san, I don’t have to tell them anything anymore.”

Nashima scoffed, “yes, but this does mean that Yamishita-san is not following your orders anymore.”

“He is, he is. I gave him a rather free rein.” He turned toward the men. “Well, I trust you’ll do your work well. Bring Kazuma these for me, will you?” Yuuta pushed two envelopes to them. They each grabbed one.

“Well? Off you go,” Yuuta said good-naturedly. The men nodded.

“Thank you for trusting us,” Zekaro said and then they left.

“Good, now that that has been taken care of, Aika, who of the lieutenants deserves a promotion?”

“Uhm… Narako Mishune would be next up, why?”

“Manata has been dismissed.”

“Why?” her surprise grew. “I leave you for five minutes and you’ve been doing random things.”

“No, Manata was Nara’s spy.”

“What?”

“Manata was Nara’s spy.”

“I heard you, I just have a hard time believing it.”

Yuuta was already filling in the promotion papers, he could recall Narako Mishune’s name from the personnel files. He signed,

“Well, he’s gone now, and he isn’t coming back here soon. Shinka, could you sign this for me when your tea is finished?” he asked the girl in the corner. He got a nod as answer.

“Aren’t you acting rash right now?” Nashima asked, “I’ve seen you mull over decisions for hours at times, and now you’re just doing things.”

“Well, impulsivity can be good once in a while.”

“Fine. You’re the Captain-Commandant,” she sighed.

Nibutani walked back over, and put her empty cup down. Snatching Yuuta’s pen from his hand, she signed the document he put down.

“Wow, you must have really poured that cup down your throat,” Yuuta said, glancing at his untouched cup of tea.

“Yes, and we’re leaving now,” the girl said.

“I did promise that, didn’t I… alright, alright, let me gather my stuff.”

“I’ll wait for you at the door of the slightly bigger office next to this one, I need to get my stuff too,” and she trotted off.

Yuuta shook his head slightly. “Any way, Aika,” he picked up the second folder containing the cypher, “here’s the cypher for the network. Learn by heart then destroy. Make a copy and giver Walter the same instructions.”

She nodded.

“And give this,” he handed his steaming cup back to her, “to Shoichi.”

She smiled, “Want me to make a sarcastic comment as well?”

“If you can.” Yuuta snickered.

“No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yes, hopefully by that time we’ll have heard of our friends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back! It's been two months? More like three. Uhm, so this chapter was originally more then ten thousand words long, and then I decided to cut it apart into multiple chapters on advice of some of my friends. That does mean you're getting two more chapters in the very near future. They are in fact done for the biggest part. I'm working on chapter 15 already, and I'll try to get that done by the time I'm done posting these three that came from the huge amalgamate of a chapter that existed before I ripped it into three parts. A slight notice for those reading this, this story is M-rated, and it will start earning that rating in the coming chapters. Just for those not paying attention. Either way, leave a review with your thoughts, I'd love to read them. And as always
> 
> Thanks for reading


	14. Life As We Will Remember It

****

**13: Life As We Will Remember it**

They walked through a park. Yuuta had not wanted to take a car, he wanted to be free of the temple for a bit. She could understand, he had been working ridiculously hard for something he was doing for her.

They had been walking in a comfortable silence, just holding hands, enjoying that they were not alone. The evening hadn’t turned into the night cold yet, so even though her legs were bare aside from a thin pair of long stockings, she wasn’t wearing the dark blue blazer that was part of her uniform.

Yuuta walked beside her, carrying their bags, like a real gentleman. She might be stronger than him and his superior, that did not mean she didn’t want to be pampered.

_“He knows that, he knows me inside out_ , _”_ her thoughts went, colouring her cheeks crimson, _“well, almost inside out.”_

He didn’t notice the blush on her face. He was pondering something, his eyebrows had been set in that same pensive position since they had left the temple half an hour earlier. Still, as he knew her, she knew him. She knew she didn’t have to worry about him just yet. If his brooding persisted for another hour, then she should start worrying.

She suddenly realised she was staring at his face, and a puzzled look had overthrown the pensive one from just moments earlier. She quickly placed a kiss on his lips to hide her embarrassment.

He chuckled softly, and his voice followed that same volume, “You do know you don’t have to get embarrassed every time you look at me, right? I know you’re the big bad boss of the temple, but here, there’s no one to judge you.”

She scoffed, her cheeks still coloured red, “Like I care what those idiots think, none of them would ever be able to put anything in my way.”

“Still, just like me, you act differently in the context that is the temple than just outside here with me,” he said, as his eyebrows started lowering back into their previous position.

She grabbed his arm with her two hands, dropping her blazer, and slung him around. He stumbled until he fell with his back against a tree. She took the two steps needed to close the distance between them and pushed him up against the tree, pressing herself against him.

He responded immediately, his arms slipped around her, keeping her where she was. Their lips quickly found each other with a need, as if they were more important than food or water. She didn’t lose herself completely in the sensation of him, as they were in public, _“but oh how good it must feel if I just gave in,”_ her thoughts raced.

She was considering it. She never had those thoughts before, but this was the second time she was achingly close to giving in. Her knees shook, and he made use of the momentary weakness to turn the roles around.

He pushed himself against her, and she let him. His kisses starting wandering, tickling her neck. She couldn’t hold it any longer and a soft moan slipped through her wet lips. He grunted in response. She bit slightly in his neck, making him break contact with her soft skin for a moment. They panted heavily.

He straightened, the glaze in his green eyes fading. She herself wasn’t coming back yet. This was going too far, too easily, and she couldn’t even blame him. She focused on calming down. Her heartrate lowered, the heat was leaving her face and strength returned to her legs. She straightened as well, leaving the support of the tree and his arms behind.

She opened her eyes and instead of seeing her grinning boyfriend, looking embarrassed over losing his control, she saw her boyfriend in perfect control, scanning the environment. She looked quizzically up at him.

He put a single finger to her lips, to make sure she kept silent, with that same finger he tapped his forehead and then gestured for her to open her senses. She listened, spreading her consciousness to sense others. She didn’t feel anything out of particular. People moving up and down the trail, people speeding around in cars or on cycles, small critters like mice and chipmunks.

She opened her mouth to ask what he was sensing, but then she noticed something odd. A large group of people was trekking toward them, spread out throughout the park. Two larger groups of about fifteen to twenty-five people were walking toward them using the path, and five, no six groups of four to five people were walking through the forest.

Yuuta’s brow had lowered while she had been scanning the area. He had noticed the danger before her. “Who do you think it is?” his voice came, silent, close to her ear.

“I don’t know, I might be a target for a lot of groups,” she whispered back.

“I don’t think they’re here for you, at least not specifically. A scout spotted us while… a while ago, that’s how they’re closing us in. Do you sense anyone particularly strong?”

“No, but most of the stronger ones can hide their strength, so that doesn’t mean anything.”

A voice cracked through their whispering, “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the cute little teenagers that think they know so much,” the voice scathed. Yuuta protectively put himself between her and the source of the voice.

“Manata. Why, and how are you here?”

The man cackled. “Poor boy, I know your urges have caught up to you and that filthy slut, but use your thinker box for-----“ The rest of that sentence did not leave his mouth, as Yuuta fist whipped around and slammed his jaw shut.

The man stumbled, but didn’t buckle. “Use your thinker box for a second, you fucking prick!” he finished.

Yuuta was enraged, but through his clenched teeth he managed to speak. “This was Nara’s plan all along wasn’t it? If I didn’t agree to his terms, he would try to clean me up.”

“Yes, and now, both you and your harlot will suffer a quiet and unseemly death. I do so apologise that you were never able to take her to your bed, but don’t worry we will all show her a really good time before we cut her pretty little throat.” Laughing echoed through the trees as Manata’s compatriots started appearing.

Yuuta was trying to coil his rage. She could see him trying. She knew he wouldn’t succeed. Anger was his biggest weak point. He was smart, and picked up things at breakneck speed, but when he was enraged all those things faded. They were doing this on purpose.

“ _There has to be an out,”_ she thought, _“they are with too many to take care of easily, even by us. We’re encircled, and more of them are approaching.”_ She let out a yelp, as she felt a hand caress her hip. She had never seen someone move so fast in the real world as Yuuta did at that moment.

A sickening crack sounded behind her as Yuuta’s fist whipped around her, narrowly not hitting her. He stood in front of her again. A heavy thud a single second later, as well as the silence of the person that touched her made her conclude that either the man was unconscious or he was dead.

He cupped her chin, the anger flaring in his eyes softened by being near her. He kissed her softly. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” he whispered, she could see that he knew they weren’t going to just escape, and that their lives were at a real risk here, it had al clicked in his mind.

“I’m sorry too,” she whispered back, knowing that they might be the last words they spoke to each other.

He turned, “Manata! We might not come out of this alive, but be assured, the bell tolls for you today. And that is a certainty. Vanishment this world!” his voice ripped through the surroundings, and black overtook them.

* * *

 

With luck, they had been transported to an area flanked by a high cliff side. She wanted to take control of the situation but, “Shinka, back against that rockwall, summon your spear, but use your crossbows,” his voice commanded.

He himself still stood between her and the enemies, but in the slight instant that they’d passed dimensions, he had already summoned his weapons. Ganjouna twirled tiny circles, gripped tightly in his right hand, while he had a reverse grip on Shirobuchi, which stuck out like a sheening metal ridge across his forearm.

“I’m stronger than you, I should take front lines,” she yelled back.

Manata started cackling again, “Would you look at that, a lover’s quarrel, isn’t that sweet boys?”

The man surrounding them laughed, but she didn’t. Yuuta had glanced over his shoulder, she had seen pure, uncontrolled rage dancing through them. He kept his mana output low but she knew. He wasn’t crippled by Ganjouna at that moment. Rage had unlocked his power faster than all the sparring they could have ever done.

“Stay behind me,” his mouth moved, but no sound left.

She nodded. She knew he was right. At range he wasn’t worth a whole lot, but still she didn’t want him to die. She shook her head. _Focus… focus…,_ she calmed herself. Quickly moving to the wall, she summoned her beloved spear and stabbed it into the ground, taking position right behind it, she summoned the twin crossbows she used to attack at range. Arrows shining green from her mana crackled into their slots.

“We gave them enough prep time, don’t you think? Slaughter them,” Manata signalled. As one, the men shouted, some simply for the sound, other shouting profanity, and stormed toward them.

It flowed over her. She raised her arms, as Yuuta lowered into position, Ganjouna still twirling restlessly. Her magic bolts loosed, as did her boyfriend.

With a single bound, he was right in front of one, his longsword arched through the air, the tip whistling. An arm tumbled through the air. The shout turned to a scream.

Her bolts hit, one ripping open the abdomen of one of the pigs in front of her, the other penetrating a shoulder, dragging that one to the ground as well.

* * *

 

Yuuta kicked the now one-armed man before him in his stomach, launching him into some that were behind him. He caught a blade with Shirobuchi, and blocked a strike from an axe with Ganjouna. Shifting his weight, he let the man on his left tumble past him, and with a quick flick of his wrist Shirobuchi cleanly cut his windpipe.

He heard another salvo loosen from Nibutani, followed by a disgusting squelch as a man’s head exploded. Another tumbled down as his knee was removed from his leg.

He twirled round, slamming back the men that were trying to surround him. He took a step back toward Nibutani, cleaving at a man’s shoulder while doing so. His sword lodged in between the man’s shoulder and neck. He pulled back, and with a spray of blood another man tumbled down.

This brought him off balance. He was a moment too slow in pulling back completely and receive a cut to his leg. It wasn’t serious but, he would tire quickly if he kept receiving even these shallow cuts.

Another crack sounded through the air, followed by an explosion. The torso of a man flew through the air and hit one of the advancing adversaries in his side. He moved into the distraction, flowing past three men.

A leg, a head and some intestines dropped to the ground, followed by the bodies of the men the belonged to. The man whose leg he cut didn’t want to die just yet, and slammed the axe he was holding right into his back. His hipbone caught most of the impact, but the wound was deep. His sword snaked through the air, and a shout turned into gasps for air.

The ground shook, and he could see a massive blast of unrefined mana rip toward the men, one of them charged in, and slammed a tower shield down. The blast pushed him back but he remained unscathed beside that.

He gritted his teeth. Ripping them apart that way would have worked, but he knew they had to have been prepared for that. Two arrows ripped past the tower shield, taken two of the protected men down nevertheless.

They were whittling their numbers down, but their numbers would soon start drowning them. He shook with anger for his stupidity. He was going to get her killed. He had to protect her. He tried to refocus on the men in front of him. His defence on auto pilot had only worked because these guys were not used to fighting together, but they were learning to spread apart further, giving each other more room, and he was starting to get pressed.

He left his defensive position and struck out. Ganjouna whistled through the air, ripping someone’s chest open, and Shirobuchi drilled into someone abdomen. He twisted the boken, and pulled it out, letting the insides become the outsides. Immediately, the others stepped over their defeated comrades and tried to make most of his position.

He dropped low, dodging under two strikes but a third caught him on his arm. He slashed outward, separating a shin and a knee.

He had not heard Nibutani’s bows anymore in the meantime. He twisted trying to see her, they were slowly being separated. She had been forced to take up her spear, and it whirled around constantly, whipping out left and right. She was being overwhelmed though, and bleeding from a cut to her shoulder.

He pushed toward her, his swords ripping through the men separating them. Cut after cut landed as he abandoned defence altogether. Men fell and got replaced, the situation seemed hopeless. A sword sliced open her side, earning the man a spear through his throat.

She wasn’t able to rip it free. One of the men had grabbed the bloodied shaft. She let go of the weapon, and summoned another weapon, but it was too late. A club took the side of her head. She was dazed. The men grabbed her. He screamed her name, his swords amputating, decapitating all around him. Bleeding from dozens of wounds, he screamed her name.

Her bloodied, ripped shirt, was grasped tightly by one of the men, ripping the already weak fabric completely off her.

Yuuta’s vision coloured red. He barely heard her scream his name. He stopped moving, time seemed to stop moving. He could see the lust and hunger in the men ripping at her clothes, their hands moving toward her flesh, toward her other clothes. He could see the anguish in her eyes. His hands started moving automatically.

He started pouring every single drop of mana he had into his longsword, dropping the white blade.

He screamed a wordless scream that contained everything. His anger, his own anguish, his control, his power, his weakness.

Red turned to white, as he slammed the sword into the ground with all his might.

The world shattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned with the next chapter! This one is a bit shorter (the shortest of the three) but I'm happy with how it turned out. I've read it through a couple of times, when fixing mistakes and such over the past months, and this part has really grown on me. It was something different to write, something a bit less on the beaten path, I think. It was fun. I'd like to hear what you all think off the chapter/story so far, so leave a review if you can! I always love hearing from you guys! And as always
> 
> Thanks for reading


	15. A Torch To The Past

**14: A Torch To The Past**

He woke up.

“Welcome.”

He recognised the voice. It was the voice that gave him advice, the voice that talked to him in his dreams. He was in his room again.

“Don’t worry, you can move from the bed now.”

He tested it, by twisting to where the voice came from. He saw himself. At least almost.

“You must have a lot of questions,” the man said, with almost his voice.

“Where  am I, and how do I get back? I need to help Nibutani.”

“You are in your subconscious, at least a place similar to it. Don’t worry about Shinka, she’s safe.”

“How do you know?!” Yuuta yelled.

“Calm down,” the man smiled softly, his weary eyes sparkling with amusement slightly. “Watch,” he waved toward the window, where the seamless grey twisted in on itself, showing the world out of his own eyes.

“Watch,” the man repeated, “I will take care of this.”

* * *

 White spilled from the place where she last saw Yuuta. An ear deafening sound rippled through the air, and suddenly the white expanded outward, as fast as light moves.

She could hear the men around her scream, and then turn silent as the white washed over her, draped her, caressed her. Her wounds healed instantly, her fatigue was gone.

And so was the white.

Not a single cough arose from the men that had surrounded her. They had decayed in the white light. The bones started tumbling against each other as the skeletons were no longer held up by muscles and flesh.

She glanced around, looking for Yuuta. Somewhere in the tussle when one of those swines had ripped of her shirt, she got turned around. They were still surrounded, but none of the people moved.

Her eyes found… him. She ran toward him, standing in the centre of the quiet bubble.

“Yuuta?”

“Well… yes and no,” the man’s weary eyes focused on her. She could see them soften just as Yuuta’s had done. The uncoiled, hot burning rage that had danced in Yuuta’s eyes was still there too, but different. It was cold, seething anger. A coiled viper would shrink away from those eyes. “He’ll be glad to know you’re okay. Here,” he absently waved a hand, making a black jacket appear around her body.

She studied him. No matter how she looked at him, he was Yuuta, but not Yuuta. Taller by several inches, as was his hair, which was tied in a messy tail. Both Ganjouna and Shirobuchi hung in scabbards at his left hip, and his back was adorned with a massive sword. It’s sheath, consisting of two halve cylinders, was tied together with all sorts of scrap cloth.

Yuuta’s uniform was replaced by a long black overcoat, the hood lined with grey fur, and held in place by silver grey belt buckles. Underneath that, she only recognised heavy black boots.

“How can you both be him and not be him?”

“Well, I am him, but he is not me… yet,” his eyes were scanning the crowd around them. Manata came pushing through.

She knew. It started clicking in her head. Yuuta being a late bloomer, his incredible latent power, his knowledge, his growth rate, and everything else that made him such an amazing Ability User. He was the Original. He was the Dark Flame Master.

* * *

 He turned from the young girl when he saw that she was making the connections and focused on the old man that he knew was the leader of this group of worthless pawns.

“Good evening filth,” the words scathed, as he started approaching the man.

“Yuuta-kun, you don’t think that you’ll be able to beat us, do you? You may have just taken out some of us, but now you must have near enough no power left.”

The man was weak. He was smart, but he was weak. He should never come out into the open like this. He didn’t respond but stopped in his marching.

“See. You aren’t going to be able to scare us away!” the man started cackling again.

He could feel the other him press him, push him, he wanted that man’s blood. He just laughed. Not a hearty, happy laugh. It was the laugh of death.

The cackling stopped. “TAKE HIM DOWN!” the old man yelled, and once more the men charged.

A shrill metallic ring echoed through the air as Ganjouna left it’s scabbard. He swung. Purple lighting crackled from the point of the sword. The tower shield wielders moved up to catch the magic attack.

A crooked smile appeared on other Yuuta’s face.

The area was suddenly surrounded by a cacophony of sound.

The loud crack of wood, as the shields exploded from being overcharged.

The screams of men as they saw their friends get ripped to shreds by the lighting.

The splatter of blood and other liquids as torsos, arms, heads, legs, intestines, hearts, liver, stomachs and all the rest gets separated from the body they belong to.

The thuds of body parts as they fall on the ground.

And just as quickly the sound ended. The smell of blood hung thick in the air. The girl was covered in it from her earlier fight, and so was he, although that was not his fight. But the older men was doused in it.

Thick blood from his men stuck to him, dripped of him slowly. His mouth hung open, his eyes couldn’t believe the sight. He stumbled to his knees.

Other Yuuta approached him.

“Who are you?” the man whispered.

“Your worst nightmare.” He gently placed the tip of Ganjouna against the man’s chest.

“I now beckon and beseech

For your soul to reach

To imprison it in my mind

To rip it from you and your kind

Death is but the sweet relief

That you will not achieve.”

The man squealed for a solid minute, twisting in agony against the point of the sword, but not able to pull away. His eyes rolled up, and his body died, withering away in an instant. 

The girl had remained silent. He could read the shock in her eyes, but she had impressive control over herself.

“Since it’s become too late to hide, you two can now ask questions. I’ll answer them if I can, while I try to earth myself in the ground.”

“Why must you earth yourself?” she asked.

“Because this body is not strong enough to keep me here yet, not without destroying it.”

“And why do you have to stay?”

“Because if I don’t we will all die within the hour.”

* * *

 “Die?” Shinka didn’t look impressed, “I thought you handled that just now?” She kicked against the skull of one of the vaporized enemies.

“I handled this rabble, but there approach those that will not be so easily defeated,” the Master said, absently he waves his hand, and the carnage around them rippled out of existence. “That’s better,” he says to himself, sitting down on the ground in lotus position. He smiles at her as he pats the ground in front of him, but the cold anger still seethes in his eyes.

She sits across from him, so that the ripped clothe that is her skirt would still cover up most of what it should. “Who are you exactly?” she asks him.

“A minute, if you would.” He held his eyes closed, she could feel the world breathe with him, as if his heartbeat was the drum of life. He extended a hand, and drew a small magic circle in the dirt beside them.  
  
“SHINKA! Thank whatever it is that governs the universe that you’re alive!” Yuuta called out.

She blinked. She was not really confused, but still, there were two Yuuta’s in front of her now. She reached out to the younger one, but her hand passed right through him.

“I’m a sort of illusion,” he shrugged.

“Younger Yuuta, could you tell her what I’ve told you already? I need to focus.”

“Of course Elder Yuuta.”

The older Yuuta shook his head as he closed his eyes.

“Alright, Yuuta, I need explanations,” Shinka immediately asked.

“Well, you remember that Rikka and you explained me some about the Dark Flame Master, how he was beaten, and killed 16 years ago. About when we three were born?”

“Yes.”

“Well you were right. The Dark Flame Master that existed then was destroyed. Ground to bits even. But more precisely, his body was destroyed.”

“So? Destroy the body, destroy the person,” Shinka concluded.

“Well, no. You see, the Dark Flame Master, he over there, is still alive. Seventeen years ago, an Ability User predicted his death. He had lived for over a 1500 years at that point, and he couldn’t believe that he would be killed. He trusted the person who created, or foretold, this prophecy and got to work on preventing it.”

“If it was a prophecy, how would he be able to prevent it?”

“He couldn’t, if that wasn’t obvious, but we’ll get to that part.”

“Sure. Continue the story.”

“So seventeen years ago, he went looking for his genetically closest offspring, and found it in my mom. She was unable to conceive. He made her and my father the offer to make her fertile, in exchange for the usage of their first born son as a vessel.”

“You.”

“Me. My father apparently knew him from before that point, so he readily agreed. My mom always wanted kids so she jumped on the chance, after father convinced her that he is a good person.”

“The Dark Flame Master a good person?”

“Later, let me finish this part first. Anyway, he used his powers and made my mother fertile. My parents conceived me a week later, and he returned.”

“Creepy.”

“Could you stop interrupting me for a second? I do agree, but still.”

She nodded.

“He manipulated the DNA of the child to match his perfectly which was only possible because we were a close match from the start. He then infused me with as much of my power as he possibly could, sealing it away as completely as possible as well, to make sure my powers wouldn’t awaken before my body was strong enough to contain them.”

“When would that be?”

“When he stopped aging. At 21.”

She wanted to say something, but he raised his hand to quiet her.

“Beside the point for now. By infusing his powers into me like that, he made me a well for his power, he could still use it, but at great strain on his physical stamina. It was the that he met Takanashi Touka. She was physically our age, but even then the age slowing had already settled in. She was actually 19 then.”

“That means she has been becoming older faster lately.”

“Yes, it does. You see, he fell in love with her. She was a strong, smart and beautiful Ability User. They started going steady three months after meeting. Six months before I was born. Touka’s father was a genius scientist who worked for the Organisation. Four months before I was born, he and his wife, Touka’s mother, conceived their second child. Rikka.

From here on, it starts going downhill for him. You see, their father had found the body of the last Wicked Eye, a stigma he accidentally created when he tried to save the first girl he ever loved, when he was as old as us, before he had proper control over his powers. Their father wanted to benefit from the power that the stigma yielded, as it could turn the tide of a war between Ability Users.”

Yuuta’s voice grew in volume a bit, he strained as he kept speaking, “So, he had the marvellous idea of planting the stigma into Rikka. While the Dark Flame Master was having a lovely time with Touka, he could feel that someone was manipulating the stigma. It was still a part of his power, and he could recognise the unique energy signature from the other side of the world.”

Yuuta paused. He swallowed deeply. “He moved as quickly as he could, abandoning his clothes and a bare Touka as he rushed to where he felt the signature. He arrived too late. He had summoned some clothes while sprinting through the streets, and stumbled into the building.

The first floor was full of goons of the Organisation, but none dared step into his path when he embraced his power. Even if he had to pull from me, he was still so strong. He pushed through, ascending to the third floor of the building.

He could hear nothing on this floor sole for a steady dripping noise, and soft laughing. He walked onward, slamming open the door of the room where he had felt the signature last. He stopped right there in the doorway. The woman he had shared dinners with was laying on a table, her abdomen ripped open, as if whatever had been inside had exploded outward. Her breaths came only haltingly. Blood dripped from the shreds of skins that hung over the table sides.

The man he had shared dinners with didn’t seem to care, he was laughing softly, staring intently at the golden globe that floated above the cavity in his wife’s stomach. A grotesquely malformed foetus floated in that globe, the skull fully formed around only a single golden irised eye, the rest of the body futilely left behind.

The woman noticed me first. Tears were falling in the rhythm of her blood, between her short, ragged breaths, she whispered a single word. ‘Help.’”

Yuuta was in a trance now, it was as if he himself was remembering the events. As far as she knew, that might as well be possible.

“He called out the name of that bloody genius scientist, who only then noticed he was there. ‘Look Yuuta, isn’t she perfect?’ the man gestured at the floating… thing. He was disgusted. He now recognized that same thing in the man he had once experienced, a long time before then. Insanity.

He stepped forward, and in one breath, as well summoned a weapon, as cleaved the man from his head to his crotch in one fell swoop. The guts, brain, and rest of the man adding to the carnage already on the floor. He kicked the remains away, and stood next to the table.

‘Help,’ she said once more.

‘I can’t heal this,’ he told her.

‘Please,’ her voice came softly, ‘help her.’

His heart broke once more right then. The woman did not care for her own life, only for that of her daughter.

‘I can temporarily fix this. I can reverse the deformations, and replant the foetus into you. I can then link the power of the Wicked Eye to your body, to keep it alive until you’ve carried her to full term. You will die the moment they cut the umbilical cord though. And she will have to keep the stigma for the rest of her life.’

The woman nodded. He closed his eyes for a second, to focus to link to me deeper, to dive into the well he’d made. Power surged in him, and he poured it into the two half living beings in front of him. An hour passed before he was finally finished. He collapsed. The sword still in his hand clattered onto the ground, he fell over as well. His breath came in short slurs, physical exhaustion catching up with him.

Bright blue eyes peered at him from the bed. Tears were still falling from them.

‘Make sure someone seals away as much of her memory as they can. She will remember this event if they don’t.’

‘What the fuck happened here Yuuta?’ an angry voice called from the door, he turned his head to see the red eyes flurry around the room. A sword at his hand, her father cleaved in two, her mother obviously in distress, and she made her own conclusions.

He was too tired to speak anymore, and he couldn’t stop her either. His body refused to move. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the pain and hurt in those eyes who just hours earlier looked at him like you look at me. Only a moment later he felt his own blade pierce his heart.”

Nibutani was silent. _“What the hell am I supposed to say now?”_ She thought.

“The prophecy had fulfilled itself. By trying to prevent it, he had become too exhausted to prevent his own death.”

His green eyes seemed to refocus, “I’m sorry… not everything there was necessary for you to know. Any questions?”

“How come Touka’s aging has sped up?”

“I’m not sure. He hypothesized that she tried to either heal her father even then in her panic, or that she tried to heal her mother when Rikka was born. Healing the dead is impossible, but healing dead Ability Users works differently. An Ability User can survive severe wounds because of his power, when you try to heal a dead Ability user, you’re trying to jumpstart their mana cores.

At the moment of death though, the mana core becomes a sort of black hole, that siphons power from you. Do it for too long a time, and you own core will start suffering, eventually resulting in the loss of some, if not all, of your powers.”

“I don’t actually know why it happened though, for you see, I was dead at the time.”

“You ok to stay now?” Yuuta turned to his other half, who just spoke up.

“I’ll be okay enough to defend you this time.”

“This time?”

“I don’t know if they’ll leave us be after this, nor do I know whether breaking the seal now will kill us. Him receiving training is helping a lot in keeping this body intact.”

“Will he die if you keep using it?” worry creased her brow.

“Not immediately. He’ll start noticing that some of the physical alterations that happen when I’m forced to take over will stop reversing. This will start a deterioration process where slowly our organs will stop being able to function, or shift in place and things like that. He’ll become very ill, and then he’d die. As soon as the process begins it is irreversible.”

“Then why did you take over? I mean, if he dies, you die as well. And why are you staying if this is true?”

“I’m to blame for that, I mean, that he took over… you see, I went a bit overboard. I tried to use more of my power than the seal allowed to seep out, and I forced him to take over. Good thing I did though, else we’d be dead right now!” Yuuta interjected.

“And I’m staying, because the two Takanashi sisters are coming here. And you two might be strong, but even in her weakened state, Touka could rip you to pieces,” the other one added.

Her head was drowning in everything she was discovering. Her boyfriend, her first boyfriend, the most powerful and evil Ability User to ever exist, hunted by the most powerful one of the Organisation as well a girl carrying the stigma of his first lover.

“They’ll be here very soon. Any last questions?” the Dark Flame Master asked.

“Why does Touka still hate you? Didn’t her mother tell her about what happened?”

“Like younger me said, I was not able to heal her. I brought her back from the brink of death to carry Rikka to full term. During that period, she suffered every single minute of every single day. By linking her with the stigma, all the memories of the previous holders of the Wicked Eye started flooding in to her. She didn’t have to mental nor physical strength to resist them.

She was tortured by her own mind. I suspect that she was unable to speak, maybe even move because of the pressure of it invading her mind. I don’t even know if she was able to convey the message that she had to get Rikka’s memories sealed, I only know that the girl is alive and well because I’ve been observing you all from his eyes,” he pointed to the other Yuuta, that had started becoming transparent.

“Say goodbye for now you two. They’re here.”

* * *

 

“Togashi Yuuta, in the flesh. Haven’t seen you since I pierced you heart with that blade on your back,” Touka called out.

He stood up, followed by the girl, Shinka, who took up a place at his flank.

“Touka. I hope you’ve been well these past years?”

“Like you care! You took advantage of my feelings, and killed my parents!”

“I killed you father, yes, but I saved your sister’s life as did I give your mother several more months to live,” he answered, his voice taking a tired quality.

“My mother was in shock of the brutal murder of the man she loved! She didn’t speak a word nor moved the rest of those pitiful months she carried my younger sister!”

Rikka stood beside her sister, quiet. The headaches were back. Her sister had called the man Yuuta, but he didn’t look like Yuuta. Maybe a bit. But he looked like someone else more, someone soft and kind. She shook her head, hardening her resolve. Her sister needed her help.

“It doesn’t matter what I tell you anymore does it? The hurt that your own story inflicted has clouded that rational mind I once loved. Still even, but this is hardly the place for such sentiments.”

The scythe appeared. Her sister’s scythe. Black, blacker and even blacker. The thing was only infused with colour at its bevels. A blood red colour.

“Do you really think you can beat me? Last time it wasn’t really a fair fight, was it?” the man asked.

“I can beat you! You’re not strong enough to be here, not yet. You’ll die once and for all now. Like my parents did at your hands!”

The man sighed audibly. “I don’t want to kill you, so I hope you don’t mind that I’ll be going easy on you?” metal hissed as the two blades at his hip left their scabbards.

Rikka recognised them. They were Yuuta’s Shirobuchi and Ganjouna. The headache worsened.

“Rikka, keep the Nibutani girl away from us. If it becomes necessary, don’t hesitate to kill her, though prevent that if you can.”

“Yes sister,” Rikka responded, summoning her axe. _“No holding back this time.”_

Apparently the man had the same idea, because with a flash, the spear she knew was her rival’s prized possession showed up. They moved away from their respective partners, who patiently waited until they were gone.

They were only just out of sight, and a massive shockwave ripped over the ground, sending both girls tumbling to the ground.

Rikka felt fear. She knew her sister’s strength. A strength to match her had shown up. If they’d been closer, they had been ripped apart by that single strike.

She ran, with all her might she ran, increasing the distance between that horrifying power and her. Her rival followed. Her face was blank, white as the snow.

Several miles later they both skidded to a halt. Thunder roiled in the distance, or rather magic did. She focused on the girl panting in front of her though. She had a mission from her sister.  
  
“Why are you supporting him?” she asked to give herself some respite.

“I love him. Even now, I still can’t deny that. Besides, he hasn’t done anything that makes him seem evil to me yet.”

“He killed my parents!” Rikka shouted. She hadn’t know he was to blame for it until just then, but it fed her anger.

“He killed your father, who almost killed you!” the girl responded.

“And you believe him when he tells you this crap?”

“He didn’t. Yuuta did.”

“YUUTA DOESN’T EXIST YOU DUMB WENCH!” Rikka charged, she had enough. She wanted it to end.

The girl in front of her was strong, they were equals in many ways, but right here, right now, Rikka was going to beat her down into the dirt. Even if she had to cut some bits of the bitch.

* * *

 

_“She’s not listening,”_ Nibutani thought. _“She might be right though, how do I know if what Yuuta knows is the truth?”_

Her spear twirled deflecting a strike from the axe. She slammed the butt off her spear into the side of the girl she was fighting. She caught the strike with her arm.

“Why is that you don’t believe us?” she asked, silently.

“I believe my sister over you fake people any day,” the girl glowered, sweeping with her axe.

Shinka back stepped, and lashing out with her spear, aiming for the side of Rikka’s head. Rikka disengaged, and the girls created some distance in between them.

“I understand that you want to believe your sister, but you look just as confused as me,” Nibutani said.

“I’m not confused, everything is perfectly clear to me,” Rikka pointed with her axe toward where the flashes of light and thunderous sound originated. “He killed my father, and mentally destroyed my mother, until she finally died giving birth to me. AND YOU, you support that monster.”

“I believe him over your sister. What’s the difference between us? We’re just caught up in the fight between those two. Why do we have to fight?”

“You’re not talking me out of this. My sister asked me to defeat you, and I will do just that!”

“So you’re just a willing slave to your sister?” she raised her spear again.

“As are you a willing slave of the Master!”

They charged again.

* * *

 

She panted. She was nearing the end of her strength. They were too even. The fight had lasted too long already.

Rikka panted as heavily as she did, using her axe as a support during the lull in their struggle.

“You’re not bad, you bitch…”

“Rikka, I’ll be honest. When I first came to know you, I disliked you. A lot. But I thought we were becoming friends. What happened?”

“My sister opened my eyes.”

“This sister?” A voice called out from the side.

The Dark Flame Master stood there, a limp body hauled over his shoulder. She had been so absorbed into the fight she hadn’t noticed the distant rumbling had quieted.

He gently put the woman down.

“Touka!” Rikka’s exhaustion seemingly disappeared, she charged toward the man, anger filling the air as her voice ripped through her throat.

Nibutani tried to move, but she was too tired. The day had been too much. She knew Rikka wouldn’t survive if he lashed out with his power.

The man caught her axe easily. “I’m really sorry I have to do this,” he said. The blade he caught shattered to bits. Rikka stumbled forward when suddenly her weight wasn’t held in place anymore.

He grabbed her head, made a single hand sign and shouted, “Release!”

The girl stumbled further onto the ground, her eyes closed. Unconscious.

“What did you do to her?” Shinka asked.

“I released the seal on her memories,” he sighed.

“Why? You yourself said they had to be sealed!”

“It’s the only way I can prevent them from hunting you down. It’s what we wanted to achieve. As long as you are around me, you’ll be in danger. I simply defused a single landmine.”

“Won’t she suffer just like her mother now?”

“No. The memories will trickle back, from the very start of the Eye, to now. She won’t be overwhelmed.”

“What about you? I mean, what about the other you?”

“He will experience the same. My memories will start flooding into him even stronger than before. Don’t worry though, he’ll be able to handle it. We’re more mature then we look. But listen for a second, my time is almost run out.

Transport them back to the real world, and call one of your contacts in the Organisation to come pick them up. Make sure you’re gone before they arrive and take my body with you. He will be confused for a bit when he returns. Take care of him.” His flesh started bubbling.

She nodded. “I understand. Anything else?”

As bones snapped in his body, as he started shrinking, growing younger again, “Don’t tell him I said this, but, he feels the same for you as I felt for the first girl I loved. He will never allow you to leave his side.”

She smiled. Typical Yuuta. The most serious situations are happening and he says something stupid like that. “I’ll keep it a secret.”

Very briefly a smile showed on the face of the amalgamation between the Master and her Yuuta. Then he as well dropped to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be out some time ago, but FanFiction had some issues, at least for me. They seem to be fixed, therefore, chapter! I don't have much to say about this one. I'd really like to hear what you guys think though.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	16. Hiding In The Present

****

**15: Hiding In The Present**  
  
He jumped up immediately, his eyes wandering around, scanning his surroundings. His room. _“The real one or subconscious one?”_ His eyes shifted to the window, which showed his balcony, and a clear night sky. He sighed in relief.

“Finally up, huh?” a female voice made him turn around. “How are you?” Nibutani asked.

He didn’t answer immediately. She was still dressed in the black jacket he, or rather the other him, had summoned for her. Her legs extended from under the thing, which only barely covered her bottom area. Her ripped skirt had been discarded as its usefulness had long since disappeared.

He ripped his eyes away from her bare skin, “I’m fine… a bit of a headache but that was to be expected I guess. How are you?”

“I’m fine. A bit shaken after what we’ve been through, but fine. You, or he, or whatever, healed me up quite good. Just exhausted from my battle with the Wicked Eye.”

“You should probably get some rest then. When are they coming to pick you up?”

“They’re not. They’re bringing round a new uniform in the morning, but I called father, and I’m staying here.”

“I can’t imagine him being happy about that.”

“I wouldn’t know either, I left him a voicemail,” she smirked.

“You are going to be the death of me,” he shook his head. “So, what’s your plan for tonight then?”

“I’m sleeping here, obviously.”

He sighed in resignation. “I’ll take the couch then.” He was exhausted and his head was pounding. He knew why, he himself had explained it. He was remembering.

“No. You are staying here with me,” her voice cut through his fatigue.

“Wha, what do you mean?” he asked her, his mind reeling from the insinuations she was making.

She raised herself up from the bed. “I mean that we almost died just then. We’re not your average teenagers, not me, especially not you. How fast will death again start knocking on our door? I’m done doing things as they’re supposed to be done.”

“I don’t really understand. We survived, and honestly, do you think anything can really threaten us? With him inside me?”

“You can’t use his powers, and he himself said he might not be able to manifest whenever. Listen, I want to be with you. My life was almost over today. I want to celebrate it, while I still have it.”

His heart thumped in his chest. “Is this not too fast?” he whispered quietly, heat tinging his voice.

She blushed furiously. “Like I said, you numbnut, for all we know the Organisation will have us killed by morning. Two of the people who made a serious effort to kill us are a floor above us. I’m done waiting for things, because that is the norm. Hell, technically you’re more than a thousand years old, and I’m the warleader of an organisation with the power to wipe out a small country. Like Belgium or something.”

His mind filled with vague memories, past encounters with the other gender. He locked them out. This was something between him and her. He understood what the memories tried to show him though. Embrace life.

“I won’t deny you this if you want to, because we both know I want this just as much. I just need to be sure. Need you to be sure that this isn’t just a reaction to the absurdity of this day.”

“You’ve been out for a couple of hours you know? I had to time to think this through,” she loosened the buckles that kept the jacket tied closed. It fell open and she let it slide of her body.

Yuuta eyes widened, studying his now near bare girlfriend. It was as if she had planned this to happen. A frilly blue bra covered her chest, and matching panties covered her crotch.

“You do it too. It’s embarrassing if it’s only me.”

His throat was dry, but he nodded. He slipped out of his shirt, and kicked off his pants. She studied him now, and he could feel his face colour.

They moved closer to each other, touching softly, slowly. Their breathing was harsh, quick and no longer within their control.

As if a switch had clicked, they moved quicker all of a sudden. He moved in and picked her up, locking lips with her as he carried her over to his bed. With a soft thud their bodies collided with the mattress, tangled.

Quickly their undergarments disappeared, neither in doubt, or able to think about it long enough to doubt, as they lost themselves in their passion.

* * *

 

The moonlight disturbed her. Creasing her eyelids, she turned in the bed looking for the man she had been with. Her arms couldn’t find him.

Awake completely immediately, panic gripped her, tightening her throat. _“Had he been taken?”_ Her eyes scanned the room, looking for signs of break in, something that would give her a clue.

The door was still locked, their clothes still spread out over the floor, but his pants and boxers were missing.

A fresh breeze past by her face. _“The window? Of course! The curtains were closed when we… went to sleep, so how come there’s moonlight in here?”_

She rolled out the bed, wrapping the blanket around her bare body as a cloak, and softly landed facing the now open window.

Her panic dissipated. He was right there. He was on the balcony. Only his lower body half was dressed, and he stood there, leaning, watching the night. His back still carried marks from her nails, though they had faded some already. They should have healed instantly. It was like he didn’t want them to heal.

She climbed the bed, crawled through the window and joined him. He didn’t seem to notice her. He had that pondering look on him again.

 _“He’ll tell me when he’s figured out whatever is bothering him.”_ That didn’t mean she was going to leave him alone. As much for him as for herself, she didn’t want to leave.

She wrapped the blanket around her tighter, as the fresh breeze became a cold one. It was not a night to be outside naked. She shivered.

His eyes wandered to her for a second. He waved his hand absently, and his gaze turned away again. The blanket stopped swaying in the wind. In fact, the wind seemed to have disappeared completely.

 _“What did he do? How did he do it? How was he able to affect things in the real world without her sensing a thing?”_ Her mind was not clear. This was a dream. That would explain a lot. _“but  if this is a dream, I can disturb him however much I want.”_

“Yuuta?” her voice was soft.

“Hmm?” he turned to her, changing how he was leaning so he was facing her completely.

Her mind wandered for a bit as she studied every line on his body, every line she had caressed hours earlier. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks again.

“Shinka?” his voice breaking through her daydreams.

“Oh, uhm…,” her mind was not quite right yet, “what did you do with the wind? Is this a dream?”

“It could be a dream, for all I know, the last twelve hours were very surreal. As for the wind, it’s simple barrier creation, I’m sure you can do it too. If you extend an arm to either side you can still feel the air passing us by.” He didn’t sound completely like the boy she had come to know. More like the commander he was becoming, or the man he once was.

She tested what he said, “Sure, I could do that easily in the Otherworld, but here?” Her fingertips were engulfed by the wind again once she extended her arm.

He rubbed his eyes with a single hand. “Right, you guys don’t know how to do anything on this side of the Spectrum."

“We do! It just takes a massive amount of power to be able to do even small things.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because of the mana in the air! It stops us from injecting and manipulating our own.”

“Ok, so what happens when you use your mana? Tap into those reserves you have and empty them?”

“They refill through the mana in the air here, though we ourselves produce a small amount of mana constantly depending on our strength.”

“So most of the mana you use is the very same as that which keeps you from using it?”

“Yes?”

“And that makes sense to you?”

“I guess? It’s always been this way. Only very strong Ability Users are able to affect the real world.”

“I guess it has been that way for a while now. My fault, that it is this way too,” he sighed.

“Your fault?”

“You know what I mean. Me, other me, whatever, me. The point is, you don’t have to be strong at all to affect the real world.”

“Explain,” her eyes narrowed.

“Simple, why use your ‘own’ particles when you might as well use the mana you haven’t absorbed yet?”

“What? I don’t understand?”

“Well, you yourself said that the mana in the air and the mana we have is basically the same. So instead of using our own mana, our own life force, to break the world, we simply bend what is already there,” He snapped his fingers, and a flame appeared right above his hand, “and make that do as we wish.”

She couldn’t quite wrap her head around it. Manipulating existing mana to such an extent was impossible. Even in the Otherworld, during a fight where you are confronted with the mana of another, you had to block with your own mana.

If what he was saying was true, it would be like you’d be able to shield yourself by making the mana implode on itself. _“Strength would mean nothing anymore!”_

“Not exactly true. You grasped something fundamental, yes, but you miss a point still.”

“Did you just read my mind?”

“You’re easy to read at times,” he smiled.

“So, tell me, what meaning has strength? Why can the most lowly ranked soldier not defeat you then?”

“Strength is more than the quantity of mana one can harbour. Let’s say you blasted me at full strength, and I started using your mana to power a shield, but the amount of mana I can catch and turn in on itself is smaller than the amount of mana you can launch at me in that same timeframe?”

“The shield would shatter just the same!”

“Exactly. The speed of your manipulation is important as well, and those with naturally larger containers, are usually also much faster. It’s one of the reasons I could win from Touka this time around. I used her own power against her.”

“You didn’t fight her, remember?”

“I… I guess I didn’t. At the same time though, I was present, or at least I have memories of the events. Two layers of memories even. My own and his.”

“You have his memories? All of them?”

“No. Not yet at least. But I remember a lot, how else could I have explained all that crap? And I keep remembering more and more,” his face creased, “Not all of these memories are pleasant.”

She could imagine that. The Dark Flame Master was known as the most evil Ability User to ever exist, and even if she didn’t so readily believe that any longer, likely things the Organisation spread after their fallout with him, there  were still stories of other, more trustworthy sources that told her similar things.

Assassinations, wars, diseases and a whole load of other atrocities were blamed on him, and from what she knew of Yuuta, if the Dark Flame Master was even remotely similar, and so far that seemed to be the case, she could imagine cases where he deemed those things necessary.

Besides that, the Dark Flame Master had admitted to having multiple lovers and most likely friends throughout all those years. The deaths of those must weigh heavy on his mind.

“Are you okay?” she finally asked.

“I’m fine. For the moment the memories aren’t bothering me that much, even though they woke me.”

“Woke you? What did you remember?”

“Rikka’s first birth. I really remembered this time. It wasn’t just a story any longer.”

She swallowed. She had only heard the story and it make her sick in her stomach. She couldn’t imagine going through it again and again.

“Shinka, are you okay?” he searched her eyes.

“I’m fine… I just can’t imagine having to go through that.”

“Most of the memories I gained seem to be technical knowledge. I’m aware of concepts that I never considered earlier, and when I try to figure them out, memories flow where they didn’t before.”

“You have no memories of his life then?”

“Some, not a lot. Like I mentioned, Rikka’s first birth, flashes of other things, a burning city, a grave, vague impressions. I’d much rather not dive too deeply in those,” he seemed pained.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll either remember it all and be able to complete whatever puzzle you’re chewing on, or you won’t remember more and you can start forgetting what you already remember.”

He grimaced, “You don’t actually believe the possibility of me forgetting these things, do you?”

“You might. We don’t know anything about what’s happening now. You could always hope.”

“I don’t know if I want to forget. It’s all me. It’s part of who I am, part of who I was, and part of what I’ll become.” His mood turned again, she could almost see him turn around the puzzle pieces he had collected so far.

“Yuuta?”

“Hmm?” he grunted.

“Come back to bed with me?” she asked coyly.

A small smile crept up on his face. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to reject that notion, but I don’t think we’ll ‘sleep’ a lot more this night.”

Her face coloured, “What do you think I’m asking for?” she huffed.

He shook his head slightly, the smile preserved, prevailing over his dark mood. A small gesture from him made her turn around quickly. The wrapped around blanket twirled around her, at the same time the wind regained its rightful position, and briefly revealed her buttocks under the thin cloth.

The sun broke the horizon. She felt his arms slip around her waist, pulling her against him. His mouth right by her ear broke the silence, “I meant that the night is over, though I like your suggestion, we have places to be.” He released her.

A slap to her behind brought her back to the present. “I’ll fix up something for breakfast, you go get dressed before my mother sees you. She might just think I wasn’t nice to you.”

She darted inside through the window when she heard someone rattling the balcony doors.

* * *

 

“Fine.”

She sighed heavily. This hadn’t gone perfect, but it had gone better than she had ever dare hope. The person she was talking to wasn’t the most reasonable person on the planet, concerning certain points.

“Thank you.”

The woman sipped her tea, red eyes focused on her younger sister.

“You are certain these memories aren’t planted by him.”

“No, I’m not, but I don’t think they are. Besides, if he did plant memories within me, why not ones that support his story? I remember vague bits from when I was first born, the first Wicked Eye. I remember loving him I think.” Her brain was struggling, grasping at straws.

“Fine,” the word cut through the air once more. “I’ll leave him be for now, but if he does anything to anyone, but especially you, that I deem threatening, dangerous, unwished or unnecessary, I will chop him into little pieces with that priced sword of his.”

 _“I doubt you can, sis,”_ she thought, though she did not dare say it. She knew her powers would start growing exponentially with her memories unlocked now, but it was still her older sister. _“My older sister that fucked with what is mine!”_ her mind raged for a second. She shook her head, dispelling the thought.  
  
“Can I go to sleep now?” she asked, “We’ve been up all night.”

“No, you have school. I, however, am making you breakfast, and then hitting the sack.”

She groaned. She was not looking forward to any of it. Yuuta would be staring at her like he knew more than she could ever hope to know, Sanae would not believe that she was brought to a standstill by her distant superior, that idiot Isshiki would be a smug bastard about something and make inappropriate jokes about her, _“and that bitch Nibutani would be strutting around like a proud peacock because she both fought me to a standstill, and because she, as well, fucked what is mine!”_

She pressed her hands against her temples. _“Damn my hearing and fuck these memories! Piss off! I’m me! Yuuta or the Dark Flame Master or whatever he’s now called is not my lover, and I don’t want that prick between my legs ever!”_

“Rikka! Go get dressed!” her sister’s voice ripped her from struggle with her own mind. On auto pilot she followed her sisters command.

* * *

 

He was not a hundred percent present. In neither places. His head pounded, trying to decipher the two streams of input he was getting.

A sharp whistle shredded through his mind.

“Are you still not adjusted?” one voice said.

Another voice, a female voice in another place, “Yuuta? Are you okay?”

He wished he could answer either. He couldn’t form a single coherent thought. Yet his own voice echoed around, “Yeah, Shinka, just a headache.” The other side of him wasn’t so nice.

“Did you really fucking think I could adjust to this in seconds?” he yelled, only hurting himself even more.

The throbbing didn’t lessen at all, but his vision seemed to shift slightly. His eyes fixated on the amber coloured eyes that were holding his, but not exactly in real time. It was if he was looking at a screen, or a projected image.

He tried to dive into it, force his mind back into one place.

“You are well aware that won’t work. You don’t have enough control over our powers yet to defy me when I invite you here.”

Two fingers were pressed against his temples. His consciousness twisted and his eyes focused on himself.

“Well hello, young me.”

Yuuta was back in the grey space, but for once he wasn’t surrounded by his own room. A tiled floor extended from his feet, forming a perfect circle, somehow.

“Hi, older me,” he answered while he also heard himself answer Nibutani’s question. What the question was, he had no clue.

“Don’t worry, you won’t lose any memories from this. As soon as your personalities gather up again your mind will also gather all the memories from all the Yuuta’s.”

“Wait, split personalities?” he asked.

A snap shook him and a third perspective entered his mind. He was looking at himself and himself. _“What the actual hell is happening?”_ His mind resumed the throbbing.

He twisted his head to see an exact copy of himself stand there, clenching his head in pain.

“What is this?”

“Usually you are asleep, or hidden away in your consciousness when these things happen, but how do you think I’m able to take over your body? Exist within you as a separate entity? We are one, but we could be two, or three, or twelve, or one hundred.”

He tried to wrap his head around that. He could split his self, _with just my own will?_

“That is not what I called you here for though.” The third  perspective slipped away, and memories of the splitting headache that that ‘him’ had, came along with it.

Older him didn’t give him time to recuperate, and motioned to Yuuta to follow him as he paced toward the edge of the floor.

Annoyed, Yuuta followed him. _“It’s not as if I have a choice!”_

A doorway appeared from thin air, mere moment before they fell into the infinite grey surrounding them.

Screams immediately hit them. People locked in birdcages hung from chains that went up into the nothing. Some screams were angry, curses, threats, and so forth. Others were the cries of tortured souls.

“What is this?” Yuuta exclaimed, trying to make himself audible.

“A prison.” The other him walked to the border of this tiled circle, with a shade of red instead of white this time around. Yuuta felt like the colour had been chosen deliberately.

Older him extended his hands over the pit in front of him. The world seemed to twist around the platform, the surroundings collapsing in on themselves, twirling and flickering. Yuuta looked away as his eyes began to hurt.

“And here we are,” his own voice said.

Soft cackling came from the only still visible cage. The man in it was someone very familiar to Yuuta. Red hot rage filled him. He stormed forward but was stopped by himself.

“You can do whatever you want soon, but for now, we need him mostly sane.”

The cackling increased in volume, “One Yuuta, Two Yuuta, One lost man, One dead woman, left raped and broken in alley.” Manata cackled some more.

“Are you sure he’s sane enough as is?” Yuuta asked with disgust.

“I don’t know. Sometimes they need some time to adjust to the fact that their existences have ended. Sometimes, torture is necessary. Other times, I’ve been called Death, some even claim I am an incarnation of their deity once they preside in our realm. The only rule that matters here is mine.”

He flicked a finger, and a white hot iron bar drilled through Manata’s ribcage. He screamed, trying to move the bar away from his body, burning his hands. The stench of burning flesh assaulted Yuuta’s nose.

With a sickening crack, the bar broke a rib and left Manata’s body. A clean hole was cut through his body, the grey behind him visible. The wound was cauterized completely, but Manata still spewed blood from his mouth.

“Tell us. Who were you working for?”

Manata head twisted in the direction of the voice. “So you figured out that I’m not actually a subordinate of Nara?” He coughed heavily, his long capacity severely lessened.

 “Who would be so stupid as to use the strongest person they could command to remove a factor that didn’t need to be removed. Someone else was getting nervous about us. Who?” the older him stayed calm and composed.

“I won’t tell you. Try me.” Manata challenged the man who had ripped his soul from his now decayed body.

“Oh, I will,” the Master chuckled darkly.

 _“Who’s to say I’m completely sane?”_ Yuuta thought.

“Oh, definitely not. We are practically the antithesis of a sane person,” the other one answered the unspoken question. “You’ll figure that out for yourself eventually. You can leave now. I only wanted to show you that you can enter this place at will to converse with me. I’ll call you back when I crack the egg.” A sadistic smile curled his lips.

“Bye for now, Younger Me. And try to be safe with that woman of yours. A child beget by us, might just destroy the world.”

The world twisted in on itself, and Yuuta fell.

* * *

 

“What the hell am I supposed to do now?” the voice came through his cell phone, so loud that he had to move it away from his head.

“I don’t know, nor do I really care. I’m sure you’re aware you’re just a pawn?”

“Damn it, you promised me power, the whole of Japan at my feet!”

“And that’s why you were just a pawn. Your mind still lingers in the middle ages, where countries could be ruled by a tyrant without anyone blinking.”

“If I ever find you, I’ll murder you!” the voice cracking, nothing more than a panicked screech at this point.

“I suggest you try to survive the calamity that is Togashi Yuuta. You will not be contacting me again,” he gently pressed the ‘end call’ button, cutting of whatever the panicked man was about to say.

“We did lose two agents in Japan now sir, are you sure we can afford that?”

The man chuckled softly. “Neither of them mattered. We have spies higher up in those groups, they were mere pawns, a whim of mine. They did more than I expected of them, revealing that ‘he’ still exists. I wonder what our dear High Priestess will use as an excuse when we question her.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? She is one of the strongest Ability Users to ever walk this world.” The woman looked uncomfortable.

“Exactly. This world,” he smirked.

“Very well. I’ll send out the summons.” The woman stood up to leave, “We, of the Empty Church, will reclaim our lost God.”

“And we will rule at his feet,” he finished the saying, the smirk still plastered on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for this horribly late chapter. I struggled with my depression this year, got swallowed up in other projects, but these all sound like excuses, so I'll cut the chit chat.
> 
> I hate this chapter. Absolutely despise it. It took so damn long to write. I wrote so many drafts. Every single draft worse than the other. All drafts in total probably were as long as the rest of this story. Nothing felt right somehow. But it's here, it's out, and I don't think I'll ever revisit this chapter again. This was as far as the story was planned out when I began writing... three years ago already... that's five chapters a year. I've seen worse, but it still makes me feel sort off depressed. Next chapter will be another wait, I need to write outlines first again, and fix some deviations from the original plan and so on. I won't make any promises, since I'm horrible at keeping them, but I'll try to get chapters out sooner. I have some vacation time, and little to focus myself on, so hopefully it'll work out. I deeply apologize, and for everyone that is still around, after three years of sloppy writing, I'd like to deeply
> 
> Thank you for reading.
> 
> And that was also the last of the backlog.


	17. Emptiness Calls You Hom

**16: Emptiness Calls You Home**

It was when she came home that she noticed. School had sucked, she had avoided every single person. Neither Yuuta nor Nibutani had tried to approach her when they noticed the mood she was in. She wanted to be home, she felt like only her sister could ease her headaches.

The whole day memories kept flooding in. At times she wondered how she had been able to keep it together. She had died multiple times today. Felt life running out of her veins. And none of her deaths were from becoming old and frail.

She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts as much as she could. Lights were still off.

" _Was Touka still asleep?"_

She flipped the light switch, throwing her bag into a corner. "Touka?" she called out. Only silence responded.

She walked into the hallway, approaching her sister's room.  _"If I wake her up, she'll probably kill me… but she has to be here right?"_

Very quietly, she opened the door leading to her sister's room. Empty. The bed was made, the closet ransacked, and a note was left in the middle of the floor.

'Rikka

I was summoned to Italy. I'll be gone for several days, maybe longer. Don't worry about me.

As long as I'm gone you will be acting High Priestess. Try not to make the place burn down.

Oh, and try to patch things up with those people. If what you told me is true, it has to happen anyway, and as long as I'm gone, you can't have… him as your enemy.

Love

Touka'

" _Well that's just fucking amazing, isn't it?"_  she growled in her mind. Well, with a quick cure out of the way, the only thing to do was to make the memories come back faster somehow. That meant meditating. She growled again, audibly this time.

* * *

 

"My superiors informed me of your summons, Master of the Empty Church."

The person on the other side of the desk was weaker than her, but the Empty Church had been a longtime supporter of the Organisation, so she had to be cordial.

"Ah, the famous High Priestess of the Takanashi clan. I welcome you in our midst."

The man gave her shivers. He looked perfectly normal, but his eyes gave her the creeps. Black sclera was not rare in the Otherworld, but she had not seen it on any man except this one.

She bowed slightly, and he gestured for her to take a chair.

"How may I help you?" she asked of the man, after sitting down.

"I was wondering about that fight you had not too long ago… someone whispered in my ears that the Dark Flame Master has returned," the man said with a smile.

" _I thought I told those fucks that they should keep their damn mouths shut after they dropped us off! Does literally no one care about the things I say anymore. I know where to find some corpses when I get back to Japan."_

"Who might have told you that? I don't really remember such a thing," she replied with the same sardonic smile.

"Oh Touka, I'm sure you're aware that we of the Empty Church have a… special connection with that man."

" _Yeah, you guys believe he's some prophet of a god that will lay waste to this world, which is why I don't really want you to find him."_

"I have to apologize then, I didn't fight the Dark Flame Master last night. As far as I'm aware, the bastard is still dead."

"And you expect us to believe that?" his smile twitched.

"I can only tell you the truth that I know. If you know more, maybe you should inform me," she pushed back.

The smile twitched again, "You know, my dearest Touka, I do not enjoy listening to lies. I enjoy threats even less."

"I didn't threaten you. The Dark Flame Master is a calamity that needs to be stopped... if he really has returned."

"Ah yes, that is the Organisation's propaganda, isn't it? You didn't seem to mind how evil he was when you were bedding him before his supposed death!"

"At the time, we were unaware of the true extent of his evil!" she threw right back. It was a weak argument, but it was close to the truth. It was only after her father died, and her mother lived a tortured life that she believed he was actually evil.

"The Dark Flame Master is not evil! He is chaos! He is the anger of the god manifested! He is the only pure good in the world! The only creature put here by god himself!" the man shouted.

" _Well there goes all friendliness… I forgot that religious people can overreact to what you say sometimes."_

She raised her hands in an apologetic gesture. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to insult you or your beliefs."

The man only then seemed to realize that he lost reign on his emotions. "I apologize as well. I can't expect the uninitiated to believe the truth of this world."

She let the insult slide. She didn't want to trigger another of the man's attacks. Not that she feared him, but it might reflect badly on the Organisation.  _"And I really don't want to explain to the rest why the Empty Church is trying to kill us."_

"So…," the man began again, "the truth then?"

"I already told you the truth," she repeated.

The whole left side of his face twitched now. "The truth, please?"

"I told you all I know," she shrugged, "I don't know what you're searching for, but you have my full cooperation if need be."

"Of course I do," he smiled. She shivered again. Something wasn't exactly right with this man.

He reached into his desk, producing a silver ring. The face of the ring were two triangles wrapped inside each other, one black as night, one white as snow. The symbol of the Empty Church.

"I hope you don't mind wearing this ring, while you enact our business."

She grabbed the ring, placing it around her empty left ring finger. "It only seems natural," she said with a nod.

" _How long am I going to be forced to keep up this charade?"_

"Alright, now, if you'd be so kind as to go to our torture chambers so we can pick at your mind for information? We'd greatly appreciate it."

"What? I will not! If you're only going to make ridiculous requests, I will be leaving." She tried to take of the ring. It didn't budge.

"You will not leave," the man said. "After all, you can't anymore."

"This damn ring is not going to stop me, you little fuck." She tried to shift into the otherworld. She couldn't grasp at her mana. It seemed to leak right through her hands.

"Fuck! What did you do to me?" she lifted the man from his seat by his collar.

"Me? Nothing. You did it all yourself," he chuckled softly. Grabbing her hands, exerting more strength by the second, until bones started snapping in her hands.

She stifled a scream as she staggered back, her hands nearly useless. "You won't get away with this."

"Oh but we will. We already have. They trust the word of a seer more than yours after all."

"A seer? A seer told you he came back?"

"No, but that's what we told them. And then the seer died in a misfortunate accident." His chuckle was louder this time.

" _Heal hands! Heal damnit!"_ It seemed as though her mana wasn't even capable of doing that anymore. As if all her abilities were ripped from her.

" _It's this damn ring! Well, if I can't take the ring off, then I'll just have to do this."_

She stuck her ring finger in the crook of her elbow, clamping down on it has hard as she could with her arm. She started twisting her hand, she started bleeding, skin started ripping, tendons snapped, and her hand tore loose.

Triumphantly showing the now ringless hand to the man, blood pulsing out the stump where her finger used to be, she started to embrace her mana. She couldn't.

"What did you do to me?" she yelled.

He laughed harder. "Well, that was unexpected, to say the least," he started walking around his desk.

She skittered to the door.  _"Of course it doesn't open!"_ she screamed in her mind.  _"What else can I do? Fuck!"_

He picked up her bloodied finger, the ring still attached. "You were right that this little thing is the cause of your issues," he tapped the ring against his temple, her finger splattering a small amount of blood onto his face, "but the harm has long been done. The spell that constricts you only needs a single short touch, and now you can't be released from it without our help."

He pulled the ring from her finger, throwing it back to his desk. "Now, would you be so kind as to move to the torture chambers?" He stuffed the finger in her cleavage, she couldn't hold it after all. "They'll fix you up before they start cutting pieces off of you themselves." This was the first time that smile reached those eyes.

* * *

 

She gasped. It was late. She needed sleep. It was just a bit more. She had forcefully drawn almost all the memories back to her. She was almost back to her time. Almost back to that first time she had witnessed this world. She had had access to bits of those memories for a time now. She wasn't sure if she wanted a complete picture.

Just the vague images of her mother shredded to pieces by her birth were enough to make her mind recoil. She was sure that Yuuta wasn't evil at this point. Or at least the Dark Flame Master was. He wasn't necessarily good all the time, or even most of the time, but he wasn't exactly malicious either.

He never hurt anyone or anything unless he deemed he had a good reason. His reason might have been vague at times, but they always worked the best for the most people.

And the lives in which she was closer to the one that made her were always better than the ones in which he wasn't there, and even those were better than when no one knew where he was, when he retreated from the world.

She also knew that what she was doing was dangerous. Her mind almost broke several times, but she had kept it together. These memories were the most dangerous for her though.

She could go to sleep, and hope the memories came while she slept. She'd have a horrible night, but at the very least, she might not die.

" _No. It has to be now."_

She closed her eyes.

* * *

 

Yuuta had been feeling surges in Rikka's energy all day and night. He knew it was his fault, but he could not release her from the torture. He didn't have a clue how to seal memories, and it was not in the knowledge he was being fed. Not just yet, at least.

When her energy dropped down to almost zero a moment ago, he was very scared he just chased a girl to her death, but after sensing harder, he had felt the small energy signature above him.

When her energy then rose to alarming levels, he could sense the real world almost crumble around her, he became even more scared. She's remembering that. He knew.

The surge didn't stop. In fact it kept growing.  _"Has she lost control over her power?"_

Impossible, it couldn't be possible. She couldn't die because of what he did to her. He got up from his bed, where he had been laying down and started off into the direction of his door. As he turned the knob, the energy above disappeared completely.

He fell though his door, sprinting through the hallway, slamming into the locked front door. He tried to open the door, fumbling with the lock for way too long.  _"I don't have time!"_ he snapped at himself, finally hearing the click and stumbled through the door. He sprinted up the stairs, toward her apartment.

" _Why isn't Touka there to help her? What the hell happened to her!"_

The door was locked, but he didn't try the lock this time. He kicked the door, ripping it clean of its hinges. Rikka was lying down in the middle of the living room.

"Rikka!" he called out as he bridged the gap to her unmoving body in a single leap.

He placed his ear over her chest. Her heart beat restarted right then. Her eyes shot open, and she immediately twisted her body out from underneath him, kicking him in the process, launching him into the couch.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she yelled at him. "And why the fuck did you break down my door?"

"You died. You were dead," it was all he could say.

"Obviously not, you complete idiot. I promised sister to not destroy the place so you better fix that door!"

He nodded. "What happened?" he tried to ask.

She glared at him. "You did this to me, so I'm sure you are aware."

He could only nod again.

"Now, fix that damn door, and leave. I need to sleep." The Wicked Eye shone bright gold in the dark. No black lightning jumping around. It was whole again.

* * *

 

 

They couldn't fix the door themselves, so it had to wait until they could call someone in the morning. He had offered his bed to her.

She had scoffed at the offer. "I have no intention of crawling into your bed Master," she had said.

He then offered her for him to stay so she could sleep safely. His head still hurt from the boot that had connected to his head as she started chasing him out of her house.

 

They hadn't talked yet today. She was being as unapproachable as she had been yesterday.

He was in the clubroom with Nibutani now.

"I gave Nara extra time to make a decision. He claimed there was a death he had to mourn, and since it's very likely I killed them, I gave him time until tonight," he told his girlfriend.

"Wasn't Manata's attack his reply?" Nibutani asked, frowning because of the memories.

"Well, Nara and Manata were involved with each other, but there is something else that is working behind the scenes. After all, whose dumb enough to sacrifice a perfect spy? Manata could have discovered much if he wanted to."

"Very true, but who else would do this? The Organisation?"

"If it had been the Organisation, Rikka and Touka would have been with the group when they attacked. Even if they were small fry, they'd still have given them an advantage over us. Hell, the small fry almost overwhelmed us. If Rikka or Touka alone had been there from the beginning we wouldn't be here."

"The who is it?"

"I don't know. Are there any other organisations that you know of?"

"All the different temples, but none would risk fighting against me for fear of retribution from the rest."

"What if it was a combined effort?"

"No, the only thing those geezers can agree on is that they all want more power for themselves. Only something that could threaten all of them together would make them join up. And none of them knew about your other side, so we can't have been a threat."

A knock on the door halted the discussion.

"Come in!" she said. They didn't sense power on the other side of the door so it was probably a regular student.

Rikka opened the door.  _"Right. Ever since she had all her memories she has had the ability to go complete stealth mode. Probably my idea because I needed an assassin or something that day."_

"Master, may I enter?"

"Sure Rikka, but stop calling me Master. You did it yesterday too." Her steps faltered, her eyebrows scrunching, as if she hadn't known she was calling him that.

"I need to apologize to you two," she said once she deemed herself close enough to the people sitting by the window.

"Apologize for what?" Nibutani asked. Yuuta had heard in small terms what had gone on between them when he was fighting Touka.

"For not believing the truth when you were telling me it, and for attacking you because of it."

"Honestly, we can't really blame you for that. It is only because it's Yuuta that I believed what he said. We also believed the Dark Flame Master to be evil. You were simply closer to your sister than Yuuta. You couldn't believe him like I could," she clasped Yuuta's hand, anger washed over Rikka's face for a single moment, before disappearing altogether.

"Well, it is true that I don't have the bond you have with him in this life," she said with a smirk.

Yuuta saw that tension was building between them, so he quickly interjected himself. "You're forgiven Rikka. We're young, everyone makes a mistake sometimes… even if they are hundreds of years old."

Nibutani nodded.

"Well, with that out of the way. Nibutani, will you spar with me?"

Both of them looked at her oddly. "Spar? Why do you wish to fight again?"

"Our last fight was quite rudely interrupted by the Master, so I just want to finish it now."

"If Nibutani is okay with it, she can do it, but I'll be refereeing. From what I've heard, you might just tear each other's limbs off for some good fun."

"I'm fine with it," Rikka shrugged. Self-confidence was brimming out of her body.

Nibutani couldn't decline the challenge. Her own self-confidence clashed with Rikka's. She knew they were about equal, but with Rikka having lost her weapon, she might have an advantage.

"Very well," she said gracefully, "I accept your challenge."

* * *

 

The girls were ready, Nibutani armed with her spear, Rikka holding the black gladius she used when sparring with him. He was painfully aware that he had broken her real weapon, but nothing could be done about that.

"Alright, begin!"

He was so happy his powers weren't locked away completely anymore. The first clash would have launched him off into space only days ago.

Rikka had caught the blade of the spear with her weapon, and was slowly pushing the weapon aside. Gaining enough wiggle room, she twisted away, underneath the spear, and slashed at Nibutani when she stumbled forward.

Nibutani narrowly succeeded in knocking the sword aside by twirling her weapon. She stumble another step forward before finding her balance again.

Yuuta's eyes narrowed slightly. As far as he'd heard, Nibutani and Rikka were quite equal in power, why did it seem that Nibutani was at an immediate disadvantage?

Nibutani approached carefully now, and attacked with a flurry of stabs, trying to keep distance to make the most of the range her weapon gave her.

Rikka deflected stab after stab, but was being pushed back because she couldn't find an opening to strike back. Rikka aimed her free hand at the ground, and blasted unrefined mana at it, causing an explosion.

When the shriek died down, there was distance between Rikka and Nibutani, who was panting. The rush attack had taken a lot out of her.

"No offensive magic!" Yuuta called out, "That'll get out of hand way too fast!"

Rikka gritted her teeth, but nodded. It was an advantage she was losing, not being able to use her free hand to attack anymore.

Nibutani took the small respite to regain control over her breath.

Now it was Rikka that made the first move. Rushing in, she struck diagonally at Nibutani. The other girl flicked her spear around in an effort to deflect it. Rikka twisted her wrist so her weapon, sheared past the spear, twisting it again after, catching Nibutani with the flat of her blade against her temple.

Shinka was sent flying, not expecting the hit. In the air, she recovered however, breaking herself with her spear which she stabbed into the ground, she flipped up, landing on the top of the shaft. Her crossbows were already in her hand.

Angry green lightning left the weapons, forcing Rikka to create a shield, but even then she slid back.

"Isn't that offensive magic?" Rikka yelled at Yuuta.

"It's technically a weapon. If you have any ranged weapons, feel free to use them."

Range had never been Rikka's playing ground, so that was a bust for her. Nibutani looked thriumphant. Rikka's shield flickered and disappeared.

"Are you giving up?" Nibutani asked, hiding the exhaustion that she felt. Those arrows had taken a lot out of her, and Rikka's strikes were much heavier than they were before.

"No, not yet."

She started rushing toward Nibutani, who shot another salvo. Rikka twisted her sword, forcing her will on the world. Two rocks shot up right in the trajectory of the bolts. She continued sprinting straight through the ensuing explosions.

When the dust cleared she was almost upon Nibutani, who shot another salvo at point blank range, before rearming herself with her spear once more.

Rikka jumped, rolling between the lightning and struck down hard at Nibutani. Shinka caught the blade with her spear, but the weight was unbelievable.

Rikka pushed on and on, and Nibutani's legs crumbled underneath her. She dropped to a knee. "I give, I give!" she called out. The weight disappeared, and she dropped to her hands and knees.

" _How? How? How? We were equal!"_

Rikka wasn't even visibly breathing harder. It was only then that she noticed that the lightning had disappeared from Rikka's Eye.

"Rikka is the winner!" she heard Yuuta call out.

" _I need to get something like her. I'll fall behind if I don't. He'll be forced to leave me because I can't protect myself."_

Anger coursed through her mind, but on the outside, she was a panting mess. Using a couple of seconds to compose herself, she got up and congratulated Rikka on winning. The other girl courteously nodded.

She felt emptiness curdling into her stomach. It was there to stay. Her self-confidence was shattered. She knew what her next objective was, but had no idea how to go about it.

" _Now, how am I going to get Yuuta to give me an Eye of my own?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was better. At the least, I liked the writing better. I especially love the bit with Touka. So, good news everyone! For once I did not screw up my exams, which means I have about three months of free time, with the exception of my work, which only amounts to a day a week. I've been spending most of my free time writing, I finished this, and almost another chapter here as well as the prologue and a large part of the first chapter of a new thing. I should have another chapter for you next week, but after that, no promises. Leave a comment with your thoughts and 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	18. Petting The Tamed

**17: Petting The Tamed**

"Come on Yuuta. I need power. Don't you think I need to be able to protect myself?"

"Shinka, I can't give you a Wicked Eye. I don't know how! And even if I did, did you see the impact the original had on its bearers? On the world? I couldn't do that to you. I couldn't do that to anyone."

They were walking to the temple. A car had come to pick them up, but Nibutani had wanted the time to work her magic on her boyfriend, so she suggested walking. He had been reluctant, in light of recent events, but it was bright outside, and he doubted they'd attack during the day.

"But Yuuta, what if you don't happen to be around when I get attacked by someone strong?"

"You're plenty strong as is. I've not met an Ability User that trumps you in power with the exception of Touka, and now Rikka."

"And you, who are stronger than both of them combined."

"Yes, but you don't have to be afraid of me, do you?"

"Well, but what if you get kidnapped and I have to save you? Or what if you get brainwashed and try to attack me?"

"If I get kidnapped no power in the world could help you save, I'm sure you're aware that I can't give you more power than I myself possess. And I can't actually cannot get brainwashed."

"But—"

"Shinka, I can't anyway. All of this is moot."

"He could, so you can!"

"Shinka!" She hated it when he used that voice, but she also knew his mind would not be changed. He grabbed her shoulder stopping her.

"I can't. I really can't. Why are you looking for a shortcut anyway?"

"It needs to be fast. Balance must be restored."

"So it's just your loss that bugs you?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "It's more than that. Rikka is not an enemy right now, so that doesn't matter. But you saw what happened when we were attacked! Enough small fry and we are royally screwed anyway! I just want to prevent you from having to tap into his powers! He said it might kill you if you do it often!"

He nodded, contemplating her words.

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that I can't do it. But we can train together."

She huffed, "I don't need your help training."

"Alright then I wish you luck." His face didn't change, his eyebrows still knitted together.

" _Great, now I've given him another damn puzzle to work on,"_  She cursed at herself.

"Let's just go Yuuta. You're getting an answer from Nara today right?" She started walking again. They were almost there.

"Yeah, I do. I just wish I'd gotten enough evidence to crack him whether or not he accepts the terms." He started following her again.

"Well, what are you going to do if he doesn't accept your terms?"

"Well at that point, he's just risking his own position. If that happens, I'll just have to make a move against whoever follows him."

"Are you that sure he'll lose his position then? You're not relying on me to clean up your mess, are you?"

"Of course not. No, if both Walter and I complain about his incompetence, we make a front. Then it'll just be between backing Nara or not, and somehow I don't believe he has many allies."

"You think or you know?"

"Well, I'm near enough sure that he won't have enough support, from what I've been fed by my spies. Him lording his inheritance over others has not done him well, and I'm the humble Captain-Commandant that succeeded in a test above his level, and who has the ear of the Nibutanis. It'll be fine. Nara joining me might actually be good for his reputation."

"And bad for yours."

"Only until I kick him out."

They reached the gates into the temple property. "It might be best to say our goodbye's now. You want me to contact you when I'm done for the day?" he asked her.

"Not today. If I'm staying late, it is to train, and I really can't handle the distraction that is you then."

"Alright," he murmured, leaning in to kiss her.

She responded with a quick peck, and tried to leave, but he pulled her back. He kissed her again, one hand caressing her cheek, his other hand on the small of her back, pulling her close. She couldn't help but answer.

" _You would've thought I had more control after that night,"_ she thought as her hands gripped him tight, pulling him closer to her, painfully close.

With a pant they broke away from each other, both out of breath. "You know… if you want to wait until I contact you, I might be able to stay at your place again," she said softly.

With a smirk he nodded. "I'll be waiting then."

" _Why must I be in love with this ass of a person."_ She turned on her heels and marched into the complex.

* * *

Nashima immediately got up from her desk when he entered the office. She followed him into to the smaller room where he worked.

"We received a message from Nara," she told him, handing him an unopened envelope.

"You could have opened it," he said, as he ripped it open.

"I was specifically asked to leave it unopened. And while loyal to you, I can hardly push away people that might be ours soon by simply disregarding their words."

"You can disregard Nara's words however much you want." He flipped the letter open.

'Esteemed Captain-Commandant of the Ninth

I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude for the extra time you've given me to make my decision. I'm well aware that you had no need to do so.

I'd like to tell you that I have decided to accept your offer. Please let me know, at your earliest convenience, when you can meet to start the transfer of the command structure.

With high regard

Nara Yuuji'

"Well, his letters haven't lost the flowery goodness yet," he handed the letter to Aika, who skimmed it quickly.

"When are we going?" she asked.

"As soon as possible. Send him a message that I can receive him now. Are you okay with being an acting Captain-Commandant for the Second?"

"I'm not exactly happy with it, but I'll survive it. As long as you don't give it to me when we get Nara booted."

"I won't then. Would I make Shoichi happy with that?"

"Probably, but he would be a hard pawn to control."

"That's why I have you!" he grinned.

Aika sighed deeply. A short knock was heard.

"Come in," Yuuta called out, wondering who it was.

Kazuma walked in, with the biggest grin Yuuta had ever seen the man wear. "We finally traced the payments all the way to the scribe that makes the actual changes to the records," he said as soon as the door closed behind him.

"Can we make him confess?"

"Very likely. Just discovering he's involved in the plot will probably be enough to break him. I'll let you know as soon as possible though."

"Was that all?"

"No, not at all. I've took the liberty of getting several extra agents—"

"You trust these people?" Yuuta interrupted.

"Yes, but I'll send them by for you to check, if you want to."

"No, I don't have the time to micromanage the network. I apologize."

"Not necessary," Kazuma gave a slight bow. "But anyway, these agents have been tracking the payments, and have noticed that not all payments slipped into the Central Archives. Some were rerouted to the Fifth, who supported Yuuji on a number of issues."

"You think that has something to do with these payments?"

"We are planning to intercept a message when we can."

"How much people do you have now?"

"18. Maiko has also been recruiting."

"Great. We will have to invest some time to get a command chain up and running soon." Yuuta rubbed his temples.

"Do you want me to draw out a preliminary chain? The people I trust to be in higher positions and such?" Kazuma asked.

"Could you do that by tonight?" Yuuta asked. "If the command chain gets set up we can start aggressively recruiting more people, by splitting information as much as possible. Maybe creating more cyphers so that only the top people can access all information."

"Well… I might be able to pull it off if you get me Maiko here. But if we're going to collect more information, and are going to be segmenting it, I, or someone else, needs the place to collect and assemble everything."

"So you need an office?"

"Yes, and with some archiving space too."

"Do you need it here, in the temple?"

"Well, it would be odd for me to trek in to and out of the temple constantly, so frankly… yes."

"Aika-san, any idea?"

"Well… we do have storage spaces for the equipment of the section. We could clear one of those out, but then Kazuma, and any other scribe coming there will be linked to the section for being here a lot, and that'll draw attention to you."

"So no?"

"Basically."

"Great. Kazuma, any ideas?"

"I could for now just use an office in the Division Archives, but it is really small, so storage space will be an issue quickly. And those offices are free to use by any scribe that needs it to work, so the information won't really be safe."

"Togashi-sama, what if you contacted Nibutani-sama, and ask her for a place? It'd be easy for her to arrange it."

"She told me not to rely on her too much."

"Digitizing it isn't an option?"

"It take a ton of work, and computers make decryption easier."

"If I ever build my own thing in this life, everything will be digitized, encrypted fifty times or however damn much is deemed necessary," Yuuta cursed. "Well, a solution is not going to drop from the sky, so let's just go to Nara for now. You can use my office for the time I'm gone, that shouldn't arouse suspicion. If anyone questions you or Maiko, just tell them that I ordered you to summarize everything in these cabinets or something."

"I'll go send a message to Nara, and get Maiko here," Nashima left, and Kazuma went to work. Yuuta used the time to read through some of the reports that were always waiting for him.

A lieutenant had requested an audience with him. Apparently he was friends with someone in the Second, and their Captain-Commandant was working him to the bone. He was wondering if it was possible to send some help, to relieve their comrades. Fukuizumi Junzo might be the perfect person to convey Yuuta's kindness to the Second.

The second report was for replacing the equipment from a squad, for which he wrote a quick order. The third folder just contained a bunch of orders that needed his signature. He briefly glanced at each of them, before signing each of them. He trusted his captains to do their work well.

With a knock, Maiko walked in. "Hello Togashi-sama! I heard you wanted to see me? You don't want to cheat on Nibutani-sama do you?" she said cheerily.

"Hello, Maiko-san. No, the boss needs you," Yuuta pointed at Kazuma, who was writing faster than Yuuta could follow. The man seemed in a trance. "I'll leave you two to your work. I'll probably need the office when I come back."

"Thank you, we'll try to be done by the time you return." She joined the man, who furiously started explaining what he was doing. Maiko immediately took out paper from the pouch all scribes seemed to wear and started working as well. The speech waterfall was cut off by the closing door.

"Shoichi-san?"

"Yes, Togashi-sama?" the man looked up from his work.

"These orders need to be executed." He handed him the stack of papers he had just signed.

"It will be done. Anything else?"

"Yeah, could you contact lieutenant Fukuizumi and tell him I'll have time for him in a bit. Give him some tea while he's waiting. And get yourself a cup too."

"Of course. Do you want me to bring extra for the scribes in your office and for you and Aika too?"

"Not a bad idea Shoichi. I'm starting to like you!"

"I know that was meant sarcastically, but I'll make use of your open door policy for a bit. I'll be honest, I did not like you when we first met."

"I realized that. Breaking both your jaw and your weapon probably didn't help."

"Well, you were hardly to blame for that. It was a test you needed to pass. I would have done the same. I especially didn't like it when you were put in charge here. I wasn't planning on following some fifteen year old, and you weren't even from a well-known clan or family."

"You did say something like that when we met, yes."

"Yes. I'd like to apologize though. You've been doing well as our leader, and I'm less reluctant to follow your orders now."

"Well, thank you Shoichi."

"Not a problem sir."

"Call me Yuuta, it makes me feel old when people call me sir."

"Fine, will Yuuta-sama be okay? You are still my superior."

"Fine fine."

"I'll go take care of this then. You seem to have other activities to do anyway." Nashima approached them both.

"We can go to Nara now."

* * *

Nara looked a whole lot worse than last time they saw him. He must have hardly slept the last two days, which could good, or bad news for them.

"Ah, Togashi-san. Though I guess I should be saying Togashi-sama soon."

"You are agreeing to my terms then?" Yuuta didn't sit down, standing in front of the elaborate desk.

"Well, choices have been taken away from me. I'll comply with the terms you stated." The man looked weary.

"Alright then. Is there anything I need to know about before you transfer command?"

"You are well aware of the situation. You can ask Fuji Dai for a full report if you need it." The man had lost any will to fight.

"Well, I suggest that you call in all Captains and other commanding forces that need to know, and then we can settle this."

The man rang a bell that had been standing on his desk. Seconds later, Fuji's head appeared. "Togashi-sama, Nashima-san," he nodded at them, a nod they returned, "How can I help?"

"Could you sent for all the Captains to come to the group office? I need to make an announcement."

"Only two of them aren't here, so it shouldn't take too long. I shall call you when they are all here." The door closed again.

"Well Nara, I appreciate the smoothness of this transfer."

"I appreciate you giving me the extra time to consider your offer. You had no reason to do it."

"I understood your situation." Yuuta was somehow creeped out by the passiveness of the man. It was almost too easy.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, little was being said between them. Yuuta got annoyed by the silence though. He opened his mouth, but was interrupted by knock on the door.

"I think everyone is here," Nara raised himself up from his desk, and stepped out of the office. Yuuta en Aika followed them.

"Everyone," Nara began, demanding everyone's attention, "thank you for coming on such short notice. As you all well know, we have been having issues with our patrols of the Otherworld. We haven't lost anyone, but many of our people have been wounded."

All eight Captains nodded solemnly.

"Togashi Yuuta, Captain-Commandant of the Ninth, has heard of our plight, and has offered us a helping hand." The man gestured at Togashi Yuuta.

"Command will be given over to him until he deems that the problem is solved. I will still be here, but any commands, questions and so on, I'll pass on to Togashi-san. I will now give word to Togashi-san."

Yuuta stepped forward, as Nara stepped back.

"Captains!" he said. "I may not know your names, or know you yet, but hold your heads up high. Needing the help of allies is not a shame. It's an honor and a privilege. It's why we create temples, why we have friends, why we have families. You are not different for me than any of the members of my own section. I have an open door policy. As long as it is possible, I will aid you in whatever way I can. This why I am here today."

They were still staring blankly at him.

"And I wouldn't be here today, if it was not for Nashima-san. If she had not helped me, our roles might be reversed. Together, we will turn this around. We will protect the people we care about. That is what is important. Take pride in your ability to protect the ones you love, even if you might need help at times. Realizing when you can't do things on your own anymore, is a strength few people have."

Fuji yelped a "Togashi-sama!" but the rest hadn't warmed up to him yet.

"If you have any questions about the transfer of command, you may ask them now."

A thirty-something looking man raised a hand. Short cropped blond hair, and a long sleeveless black jacket on top off white pants. Yuuta signaled him.

"My name is Gomi Takeo. How will you be helping us exactly."

"Well to start, we will assemble a strike team of any strong members my section can miss. They will start hunting any targets you point at that are above average strength. Next, we will be sending patrols through your territory, cleaning the rest of the creatures. If we stumble upon any issues, the Ito twins, and Kubo Kenji will join the cleaning."

"So we will be doing nothing?"

"Of course not. On your side we will do the same, to a lesser extent, because your men have been put under severe strain. This will give them a chance to rest,"

The man nodded. "Sounds good."

"Anything else I can help with?"

None of the Captains spoke.

"Then I will thank you, and hope that this cooperation will be fruitful."

"Yes sir!" they said in unison.

"Oh, and please don't call me sir. I'm fifteen, don't make me feel old!"

The all looked at him strangely, like just saying that made him some rare reptile.

"You can all go back to work now. Let me or Nashima-san now if there are any difficulties."

"Yes-" they all began in unison, but they ended differently. Some still said "sir", others opted for "Captain-Commandant Togashi", which was way too long, and others still said what most of his Captains addressed him as, "Togashi-sama".

" _It's a start."_

The Captains scattered, returning to their work. Fuji Dai approached them. "Togashi-sama, here is all the information of our section that you might need to lead our troops. All men still capable of fighting, the wounded, and the severely wounded that'll be out of commission for a long period."

"Thank you Fuji-san."

The man nodded, and went back to his desk. Yuuta and Nashima left the group office.

"Did that go well?" he asked her.

"I think so? They were a lot more subdued then we ever were, but they probably weren't expecting help, or that their help would come in the form of a fifteen year old, or that he'd be so relaxed for a superior."

"Then what did they expect?"

"That their section would likely suffer until the patrols shifted, and they'd have to bury some friends."

"Are you people really that cutthroat?"

"Well, most of the higher ups are. Nara wouldn't have helped us."

Yuuta knew that was true.

"Hopefully they'll warm up to me, because I'm not planning on letting them go easily. We now have three votes of the ten in the Section. Any alliances I need to be worried about?"

"No. As far as I'm aware no one else is trying what you are. They'll feed off of corpses, but they won't kill."

"Good, that'll mean it'll be easier to sway others."

"You are not able to push anything through Section Command. You only have three votes."

"So far, we simply need to collect more. Kazuma will intercept whatever Nara has been sending the Fifth, and we will have an iron grip on them as well."

"You aren't forgetting that Renzo has final say right?"

"Has a Major ever gone and ignored his council when there was a majority?"

"Not yet, but you definitely would if you felt like they were being idiots."

"So, as long as I don't do anything stupid, we'll be fine."

They arrived at the offices. Yuuta's new Captain, Narako Mishune, a tall blonde, with the flattest chest Yuuta had ever witnessed, was talking with a man slightly taller than himself.

Yuuta walked up to them, as Nashima went to her desk to start the work on rerouting the patrols. She had a short conversation with Shoichi, who got up and walked past him with a nod.

"—Togashi-sama is very kind, though I wonder why he kicked out Manata-san. No one has heard from him since."

"Well, I don't think I would show my head quickly if I got kicked out by some kid."

"Hello Narako-san, Fukuizumi-san," Yuuta joined the conversation with a smile. They both jumped.

"I meant no disrespect Togashi-sama," Fukuizumi quickly said.

"No you were right. I am a kid. No one has heard of Manata? I was unaware?" Yuuta asked, feigning ignorance of the man's demise.

"No, since he left two days ago, no one has seen him," Narako said.

"Could you look into that? I'd hate it if anything happened to him because of what happened."

"Of course." She didn't ask for the reason of the dismissal, even though she was curious. She walked off to ask Nairo some questions.

"Now Fukuizumi-san, you wanted to talk with me?"

"Yes, I wanted to know if it was possible to send extra patrols to help the Second. They are under a lot of pressure."

"Well, I read your report, and just now I've negotiated with Nara-san to see if we could work something out. I'm happy to tell you that we will be helping them and thus your friend."

"That is great news!" the man smiled.

"And I'd like you to be one of the contact points between us and the Second, so that we can fix this problem smoothly."

"Me? Why me?"

"Well, you did bring it to my attention, and you already know people there. It'll make the cooperation much friendlier if we go to work as friends. Right?"

"Of course. Thank you for the honour!" the man brimmed with pride.

"I trust in you. Go ask Nashima-san for more specific orders, she'll set you up."

* * *

He entered his small office space.

"How is work going?" he asked.

Two full, cold cups of tea were on the desk. Neither of the people answered with words, only with grunts.

"I'm going to need a bit more than that."

"We think we've figured out a way to encrypt things that works in layers. When you have the highest key, you can decrypt everything, with lesser keys only parts. But everyone would need the full key to be able to encrypt it," Kazuma explained.

"So, no progress?"

"You do realize you are asking for something impossible right?" Maiko said.

"Is it?"

"Yes!" she raised her voice.

"Alright. What kind of system can we use then?"

"Maybe looped decryption? Say we have three different levels, a level 1 would decrypt level 1, a level 2 would decrypt level 1 and then level 2 and so on?" Kazuma suggested.

"So we three who will be in the top will be spending a ton of time decrypting? I don't think that is a good idea."

"Well, what if we just used different keys?" Maiko said.

"What do you mean?" Yuuta asked.

"Well, if we're going to divide people up in trustworthiness or whatever, why not just give each group its own key for communication? We would have all, and be able to read any message, if necessary, but messages will usually simply go up the command chain and we'll only need to use the key of the level beneath us."

"Isn't that too simple a solution?" Yuuta questioned.

"It'll still be safe. We can verify the workings by checking low level messages against the high level reports."

"Kazuma-san?"

"I don't see why that wouldn't work. We're we overthinking it?"

"You men always do. Well no, you either overthink and end up doing nothing, or you do something without any thinking. Not a speck of rationality in your entire gender,"

"I can say the same about yours Maiko, women are likely the most incomprehensible thing I know. Or I just have bad luck."

"That's not true, because then you wouldn't have met me!" she cheered.

"I don't know if that's good luck or bad luck," he joked.

"That hurts Togashi-sama, it really hurts." She pouted.

"So everyone agrees with Maiko's idea?"

Kazuma nodded, and she stopped pouting.

"Alright let's get to work then."

* * *

"Why would you need me to help you train?" he regarded his daughter.

"I need to get stronger. Takanashi Rikka has grown and I need to be able to beat her."

"Alright, I understand that. But why do you need me to help you? Why did you not ask Togashi-kun?"

"I don't want to rely on him right now."

His eyes narrowed. "Did he do something awful to you when you slept at his place?"

"Nothing I didn't agree to. There are other reasons why I can't get his help right now. I'd be proving him right if I did."

"Well, if it is to prove him wrong, I'll help you with anything."

"Oh, by the way, I'm sleeping at his place again tonight."

"Wait what?" he asked her, but she had already sprinted out, probably toward one of the rooms where they could train. "Well, at least she acts like her mom. Not listening to a word I say."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, giving you three chapters in such a short time... the apocalypse is near! Hail to the end of the world! *cough* So, I've been writing on the new project for the past week, and when I finish the chapter I'm working on now, I'll switch to this story for the next week again. Hopefully I'll be able to finish another two chapters and then switch back for the week after, and thus write both stories simultaneously. Give me some feedback and
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	19. Challenger To Dust

**18: Challenger To Dust**

About a week and a half had passed since Nara had given up. Section 2 had come to accept their new Captain-Commandant, not without help from Fukuizumi Junzo, who was praising as if he was some kind of god. There had been some murmurs when Yuuta's faction represented itself as a block in the last Division meeting, but nothing had happened.

One of the recently recruited spies had been able to offer a spot for Kazuma to set up. A set of offices that for some reason were never filled. It was like they were lost in the administration. They were in another building, but they should not be suspicious.

Things seemed to be going well for him, so he was just waiting for everything to come crashing down. Maybe Manata would finally reveal his real boss. Maybe Rikka and Touka would try to kill him again. Maybe the building would spontaneously implode on top of them. He didn't know what, but something was going to happen.

He was pondering over a report sent by Fuji Dai, who was worried about Nara, who hadn't bounced back from his listlessness yet, even though the section was practically saved.

"Togashi-sama?" A scribe stuck his head into his office.

"Yeah? I mean yes?"

"Messages sir."

"Alright, come in."

The scribe walked in, dropping three black envelopes, and two blue ones on his desk.

"Was that all?"

"I was asked to confirm that you read this message." He pushed one of the blue envelopes closer. It was unmarked in every way.

He ripped it open, and retrieved the letter from inside.

' _Good evening_

_You have been making quite a name in my section Togashi-san. I'd like to meet you as soon as you have the time. Please send the scribe back with a list on times and dates when you are available. I'm curious to see what kind of man you are._

_Renzo Jin'_

" _Well fuck. That probably isn't too good."_  He looked at the scribe, "Could you give me a second?"

"Of course sir, I will wait outside the door."

" _Alright, so Jin wants to meet me… did Nara rat me out to his old superior? Technically I did nothing wrong… He can't pin anything on me… Did he find out about Kazuma and Maiko? The whole spy thing likely doesn't look good. Fuck, I don't know…"_

He rubbed his forehead.

"Well, it's no use overthinking it. I don't have any clues, so it's not like I'll be able to figure anything out."

He looked at the other envelopes. The other blue one was just a report from one of the patrols. The black ones were more interesting.

The first one was marked with a small 47 on the inside top left corner. One of the level four spies… like hell he knew all their names at this point. The network was quickly growing beyond his reach, so he had to trust on Kazuma and Maiko to make sure it didn't completely collapse.

He decrypted the message. A lieutenant from the fifth had intercepted one of the payments from Nara to his Captain-Commandant. Nara simply payed the man for his vote. The Captain-Commandant of the fifth was not very ambitious, and was happy enough to let Nara use him as long as he got paid, and didn't get discovered.

" _Bit late for that, but this good news."_

The next message was marked with a fourteen. Maiko's identification. She simply repeated what the first report said, confirming it to be true, and saying she added the original for clarity. She wanted to know what he wanted to do about it.

The third was marked thirteen. Kazuma's identification. His eyes sped through the message, decrypting it as he went. Kazuma had finally compiled enough evidence to get Nara out of the way. The question was whether it was still necessary or not. Nara had been subjugated completely.

"Ugh… this is becoming too much. Hell, why have I been making such an effort?"

He knew though. It was his personality. He didn't enjoy having to take orders, so he climbed to the top so he didn't have to.

"Let's see…," he grabbed some papers, and wrote answers to both of them.

Maiko should send anonymous messages to the Captain-Commandant, forcing him to follow their orders unless he wished to be exposed.

Kazuma would have to compile the information he had into something Yuuta could give to Renzo.

He wrote an answer for Renzo as well, telling him that in two days' time, he would have an opening to talk with him. That would ensure that Kazuma had enough time.

He got up and gave the messages to the scribe still waiting by the door.

* * *

"Good evening Major Renzo." Yuuta bowed before his superior.

"Ah come in Togashi-san. Thank you for your quick response to my message." The man was actually shorter than Yuuta. Only by a couple of centimeters but it was unexpected. He didn't look like anything special. His middle long blonde hair shaggily framed his face, and he wore a simple dress shirt and a half loose tie.

"Well, you are my superior. You could have just ordered me to come." Yuuta walked forward, not sitting down in the couch opposite of the man. The antechamber was bare, but not Spartan in its decoration. Silver candlesticks adorned the corners, and light blue curtains hid the moon away. Small piece of art were hung on the wall that led into the inner office. Between the couches a kettle, two cups, and an assortment of herbal teas were displayed. The wire for the kettle disappearing behind the couch.

"I do not enjoy using power to get people to come see me. Do you enjoy using your power in such a way?" The man was sharp. Probably sharper then Nara had ever been.

"No. People seem to do their best more when you motivate them in other ways," Yuuta acceded.

"Hmm… sit, and tell me more of those… motivations you use."

Yuuta only now took the couch on the opposite side.

"Would you like some tea?"

"I wouldn't say no."

Renzo leant forward, and poured himself a cup. "What would you like?"

"The blue fruit one draws my attention."

"Hmm… I don't particularly enjoy that one, so drink as much as you'd like. At least the box will be finished then." The smell of tea filled the room, and neither said anything during their first couple of sips.

"You seem to have integrated yourself quite nicely in our little organization."

"I've had a lot of help. Nashima-san has supported me from the beginning. She was the one who held the section together when it had no leader."

"I believe that, but from what I've heard, you've been gathering allies quite rapidly. Not everything can be attributed to Nashima Aika."

"Well, according to Nibutani Takahiro, I have some latent natural talent." He sipped his tea. "I feel like it has been luck more than anything else."

"Ah yes, you do have a connection with the Nibutani's… How did that came to be?"

"Nibutani Shinka was in my class. We started dating and she asked me to join the temple. I was reluctant, but she convinced me."

"You were reluctant? You amassed power like a black hole gathers mass, and you claim to be reluctant?"

"Well… yeah. I just don't enjoy taking orders from people, and I seem to have been lucky in that regard, since you haven't called on me yet, but that simply means that I need to be on top."

"I do understand that, but how far are you willing to go?"

"As far as need be."

"It may come as a surprise to you, but not many higher-ups enjoy your actions. You are growing quickly, almost too quickly, and people see it as a threat."

"I don't mean to be a threat. In fact, I don't even want to cost any of my superiors their jobs. If I can, I'll just bunny hop over. After Major, there is no link to specific division and sections anymore. You're basically a member of the command section at that point. I won't need to push anyone aside then, just make it alluring for them to create an extra seat for me."

"You seem to have thought about this for some time. And you do seem smart enough to grow to such heights."

"Thank you."

"I still think you might be dangerous for us."

"Dangerous? How?"

"You are too loose. You are never ensnared into anything, you snare others. No one can hold you accountable, because you simply don't care about the opinions of those that you deem worthless."

"And why is that an issue? You said yourself that I am quite smart and capable."

"You scare people. Someone that they have no control over, someone with your capacity… it scares them."

"Do I scare you?"

"No. I don't feel threatened by allies. If it comes to pass that you take my place, it'll simply mean you're better suited for the job then me. I take no offense to that."

Conversation stopped. Yuuta refilled his tea.

"Do you have anything else to discuss then?" Renzo inquired.

"Actually, I've come across a plot to do you harm. A scribe brought this to my attention and I have done some research." He grabbed the folder he had placed beside him on the couch and handed it to Renzo.

He arched an eyebrow, but started reading through all the information. The arch turned into a furrow slowly. He didn't get angry, just sighing deeply when he was finished.

"This is definitely bad. I don't know if I can rely on this information though. You said yourself that you'd wish to go further, and this kind of plot would help a lot."

"While I accept that, I have one argument in my favor."

The eyebrow went up once more.

"I'm fifteen, where am I supposed to get the money to pay these sums?"

The man smiled, "While that might be a good argument, we both know you'd figure something out if necessary. It would draw a lot of attention though."

"So, what are you going to do about this? What's going to happen with Nara?"

"I need to check whether this is true or not first, if true, Nara will be kicked out of the temple swiftly, and the division council will sit to determine the next Captain-Commandant. If untrue, you will be reprimanded but I doubt we'll be able to kick you out easily."

"As far as I am aware, this is true. I trust the people that brought this to my attention."

"We'll see. Who would you put up as a candidate for Nara's position?"

"Shoichi Akehiko," Yuuta said immediately.

"Oh? Not Nashima-san?"

"No, she has expressed that she did not wish to lead a section, and I need her to make sure my own section doesn't collapse. Shoichi and I were not fast friends, but he is extremely capable, and I'm sure he would do a great job."

"Hmm… from what I know of him he does seem somewhat suitable…" Renzo rubbed his chin. "I'll support that decision if it is revealed that Nara was guilty of this crime."

Yuuta bowed his head, "Thank you Major."

"If you have nothing else to discuss, I suggest we part ways."

"I have one last question. Why did you call me here in the first place?"

"Curiosity." The man waved him off.

Shivers went up Yuuta's spine as he left the antechamber. That man was normal. Too normal. Too nice too. It felt off. Something didn't make sense about the guy. For some reason he reminded Yuuta of Manata.

* * *

Another three days past without anything happening. NIbutani was still training, trying to surpass her rival, and Yuuta was doing his best to keep grasp of everything he was doing.

Kazuma had expanded the network even more, and now even had spies in other temples. He was looking to get some into the Organization too.

Yuuta was sitting at his desk sifting through more reports. He had a headache, but he knew it wasn't a natural one. His other self was calling him, but he could hardly go zombie mode here. If anyone important showed up, he'd be screwed.

" _I'll come when I can! Don't you see I'm working here!"_  he tried to tell the Master.

" _Tche, such insignificant things. Fine, I'll leave you be until tonight. We need some time."_

" _Wait what?"_ Yuuta called out, but the presence had already faded. He sighed. "It be a lot handier if you could just come out when I ask you to."

"Yuuta!" Nashima almost fell through the door, "What did you do?!"

"Uhm… nothing I think?" he arched an eyebrow, "Why?"

"There's an emergency division council meeting!"

"And that is my fault because?"

"Because it's always your fault!"

"Reasonably fair," he got up from his chair.

"Any idea what it's about?" he asked her as they left the offices.

"No! Why do you think I came to you? You are supposed to know!"

"I am?"

"Yes! For someone so smart, you really are an idiot!"

"Alright, Aika, calm down. We'll be fine. Rush to Kazuma, tell him to send a message that the Fifth follows Nara as they usually do, and that if Nara is indisposed, they'll follow whoever replaces him."

"Got it! Don't do anything stupid until I get there. If we get killed I at least want to know why." She rushed off, and Yuuta slowed his pace.

He didn't need to rush. Council doesn't start until everyone has arrived, and he needed to create enough time for Nashima to get to Kazuma and back, and to create enough time for the message to arrive.

As he walked, he saw other Captain-Commandants walk around, Walter didn't come talk to him to avoid their alliance to be too see through, and none of the others approached him either.

The walk to the council hall was shorter than expected, but one of the Captain-Commandants was stopped by a scribe, who handed him a pink envelope.

The started entering the hall, while that man read the message quickly and then ripped it and stuffed it in his pants.

The council hall was a very empty room. A long table, with five chairs on either side and another, slightly larger, chair at its head. On the wall behind that chair, the symbol of the temple, a lion with a mane of fire, was etched into wood, and coloured the blue of the section. Roman numerals in the chairs designated seats.

Yuuta walked up to the chair with the number nine etched in it and sat down. He showed no emotion on his face. Walter took place directly opposite of him. A captain stood behind him, silent. Most Captain-Commandants seemed to have brought a captain with them.

Six seats were filled from the get go. Two more were filled two minutes later. Nashima followed, and then the ninth seat got filled. Only Nara and Renzo hadn't shown up yet. Fuji Dai was there, and he looked nervous.

No one spoke. These councils were serious, and an emergency one even more so. The silence went on. Yuuta never imagined being able to describe silence as loud, but this was a loud silence. Every little rustle of fabric, any little movement was loud. It pushed against his consciousness.

After what seemed like an hour, Renzo marched in, and closed the doors behind him.

"We are not complete," one of the Captain-Commandants said.

"We are. I dismissed Nara." Renzo stepped to his chair and sat down. "Nara Yuuji has been dismissed on grounds of him betraying his superior, endangering the temple, and changing the central archives."

Several men mumbled, some leaning to each other.

"We are here to promote a captain, because we can't let another section exist without a leader for as long as the last time. It was a blemish on our Division. We will also handle any other agenda points that were put in place for the next meeting."

Everyone looked grim. One of their own being a betrayer was shocking and almost unimaginable. Yuuta mimicked the others.

"Anyone have a suggestion for the next Captain-Commandant of the Second?" Renzo posed the question.

Yuuta raised his hand, "I'd like to suggest Shoichi Akehiko."

A fist slammed on the table. "No! You have no right to speak here boy! You're hardly a Captain-Commandant myself!"

"Okawa-san! You will respect Togashi-san. He brought the plot to me. He is the one who saved us from the corruption that was Nara."

"It was all just some mischievous plan! He's fifteen for fuck's sake! Are we really going to listen to someone a fifth of our age?"

"Okawa-san! You will calm down now, or your vote will not be counted. I don't listen to balls of hot air." Renzo said, his voice still calm, but carrying an ominous undertone.

The man quieted down.

"Do you have another suggestion?"

The man kept his silence.

"Anyone?"

Fuji Dai raised his hand. "I support Togashi-sama's choice. Even though Shoichi-san is not from our section, we have cooperated closely with the ninth before. Everyone will accept him."

"Someone from the Second vouches for Togashi-san's choice. Anyone who wants to refute?"

The silence permeated. Of the six Captain-Commandants that Yuuta didn't have under control, two looked like they didn't care, one was studying him, and three others looked angry.

"Since no one else is making a suggestion, I assume we all agree with elevating Shoichi Akehiko?"

"I don't agree, but I can't lose any of my captains. I have no one to put up," Okawa grumbled.

"Well, Fuji-san, will you go to the Ninth, and retrieve Shoichi? We will see if he is willing."

Ten minutes later the two men returned.

"Well, Shoichi Akehiko, your Captain-Commandant has put you up as the next Captain-Commandant of the Second. Do you accept?"

Shoichi looked at Yuuta, who smiled, and gave a small nod.

"If my Captain-Commandant thinks I am capable, I will gladly accept this honour."

"Welcome then. You may take your seat at this table, though I do suggest you defer to Fuji Dai-san for now."

"Thank you," Shoichi bowed his head and took his seat at the table.

"Higher Command has sent me a message a number of days ago. They want to strengthen the temple. The Organisation has been moving and trying to chip away at our influence. We need stronger members so that we can push back."

"And what are we supposed to do about it?" Walter asked.

"Apparently, our Division is has the most growers. Our men seem to develop fastest. They want the reasons, and they want us to train men."

"So, they just want to give us more duties? How're we supposed to keep everything running here, while also fixing someone else's mess?" Okawa spoke up.

"It's a matter of proper communication, and good subordinates," Yuuta said.

"Oh great, the fifteen year is going to tell us how to do our job!" Okawa growled.

"Okawa!"

"Okawa-san!"

Two voices called out. Both Renzo and Shoichi.

"This is your final warning. It sure as hell isn't because of you that we are now in the grace of Higher Command," Renzo said. "Continue Togashi-san."

"Well, if we can determine who has been training their people so well, we simply need to support that section. If that section has a capable Captain that can take over for the Captain-Commandant when he's forced to leave his post, nothing bad will happen."

"That still doesn't help us! It'll just weaken our division while strengthening others." Okawa interjected his opinion again, but calmer, not earning him a reprimand.

"No, it will gain us political power, because everyone will owe us, including Higher Command and while it will increase the power of other divisions it won't weaken us at all."

"Fine, but how will we determine the person to send?"

"Since this seems to have happened recently, I suggest that we sent one of the more recent additions," Renzo took control of the conversation again.

"So, Walter, Togashi, or Shoichi?" Okawa asked.

"Shoichi is out, since he's literally three seconds old," one of the others said.

"True. Walter then?" Renzo looked at him.

"I'd like to defer you to Togashi. I don't think I've done anything special, but the way Yuuta leads his section inspires the young ones. They try a lot harder than mine ever did."

"Oh not again! Do you really think this guy can solve all of our damn problems?" Okawa exclaimed.

Renzo's fist met the table. "Okawa. You have lost any right to speak at this council."

"But he's fucking fifteen! He's hardly old enough to bed a girl and you rely on him at every move!"

"Okawa! If you force me, I'll just send you off!"

"I don't know if I fucking care enough anymore to sit in on this farce!"

"Then take your leave," Renzo's voice indicated the finality of the words.

* * *

" _Great! Even more work! It's like I'm holding this thing up by myself."_  He was not happy, but not exactly unhappy either. Being trusted with something like this was good for his image, but he really wanted to be lazy right about now.

He rubbed his temples as he rested against the wall.

"Togashi-san?" Renzo called out to him.

"Yes?" he said with a deep sigh.

"I just wanted to warn you about Nara."

"Why?"

"I dismissed him yesterday, not today. He might just try to take revenge on us."

Yuuta could hardly imagine the meek Nara doing anything anymore. He had been ripped of his pride and now his rank.

"Thank you."

"It's not a problem."

* * *

He was on his way home. He had sent Nibutani a message but she had sent one back saying she had no time for him today. She was too busy training.

He knew her training wasn't helping much. She hadn't asked for an enhancement since that first time, but he knew she was struggling to grow. She still had potential left, but when you have already grown as much as she had, it was hard to force it even further.

He had racked his brain on any way to help her, but he couldn't figure it out.

His next step made him stumble.

" _Fuck."_  The thought echoed around him.

"I told you to come as fast as you could, but then I forgot that you don't actually know how to enter this space."

"What is it? You've been bugging me all day." He turned to his other self.

"Oh you don't have to act so annoyed. It's not my fault you've been digging yourself a grave and burying yourself under responsibilities."

"It is! I am exactly like you."

"Maybe, I don't remember much from when I was as young as you. Nowadays I would have already stood on top, or ripped everything to shreds. It makes being lazy easier." The man shrugged.

"You seem to be becoming more and more destructive as time goes on."

"Maybe I'm being influenced by you? You always dreamed of having powers to destroy the drudgery that is the general populace."

"It was a power fantasy!"

"Are you sure? I know more about you than you do. I live in your head you know."

"Whatever! Why did you need me?"

"Oh right. Manata told me who he worked for."

"Great, who?"

"They're a group called the Empty Church."

"The Empty whatnow?"

"The Empty Church. They're a group that believe that I'm some herald for their god, a key to getting it back to this world or something. They were mostly harmless in my time, and I've used them to do some dirty work before."

"Well they're not harmless now! Nibutani almost got killed!"

"I noticed that. They got a new leader some time ago. He's cruel, ruthless, and somewhat insane. Manata never met him in person, so I don't know what he looks like."

"Alright, so what can we do about it?"

"Nothing for now. We don't have enough influence to take down an organisation on another continent. Well, not without letting all your crap tumble into ashes."

"Great. Can I go now?"

"Not done yet. The Empty Church might have send some maggots our way last time, but there are a lot of powerful people in that organisation. None that rival us one on one like Touka once did, but if they group up, they might defeat us."

"We're not going to fight them anyway, so why does that matter?"

"They might come and fight us. Remember, they kind off want us, so they can resurrect their god or something. I never paid a lot of attention to them."

"A waste of time then?"

"If you think finding out who our enemies are is a waste of time, then yes."

"I don't need your sarcasm."

"It's your sarcasm."

"I… I'd really like it if you didn't fuck around so much."

"I don't do any fucking up here, though I sneaked a peak once in a while. That temple girl of yours is quite tasty."

"Alright, I'm done! Can I go now?"

"Two more things."

"Go on then!"

"First, if you want to enter this space, you do the same as when you shift to the otherworld, but in the opposite direction."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"You'll figure it out. After all, I did."

"What's the second thing?"

"That maggot Nara has hired sell swords and is going to attack us in three… two… now!"

"Again!?"

* * *

 

Fifteen men surrounded him.

Nara laughed, a gold pommelled weapon in his hand. "I'll kill you and then I'll kill Renzo, and then I'll kill Shinka and Takahiro."

"Nara, leave. You won't survive this! You know what happened to Manata!"

"Manata and those guys were killed by that little bitch you fuck, and I didn't make that mistake. I'll kill all of you separately, ripping you apart, piece by piece."

"Very well. All of you hired by this broken man, I will give you a chance. Leave and you won't die."

None of the men responded.

"Well, what are you waiting for? All of you will get a chance to rape the girl when we get her, and the money I promised you. Just fucking kill that guy already!"

The man rushed toward him. Yuuta felt annoyed. " _Again? They're attacking me again?_   _Don't they ever learn?"_

He summoned Ganjouna, moving so fast, that they seemed to move in slow motion.

The first enemy encountered lost a leg, then an arm, and then his head. Only after Yuuta stopped moving did the blood explode out of the body.

"One last chance people. Death? Or life?"

Three of them. Only three stopped moving.

Yuuta sighed. He started his slaughter.

It was only minutes later that every single one of them was dead. The ground turned muddy from the blood that poured out of the severed bodies.

"You three," Yuuta said, his voice commanding, "I'm going to erase your memories. I will implant two commands in you. You will leave this country, and never come in touch with the Otherworld again."

The men silently nodded. Yuuta knew how scary he must look right now. He was covered in blood, and he hadn't acted sparingly. Merciless kills, but not without pain. No one threatened him.

Slowly he placed his hand on each of the men, destroying their memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lot of backend stuff happening in this chapter. It's not the greatest thing I've written, but I'm not dissatisfied with it. I was only able to finish the one chapter this week, so next chapter should be in two weeks. My apologies for that. Give me some feedback and
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	20. Amber Eyes

**19: Amber Eyes**

She gritted her teeth, twirling her weapon, it's shape blurring due to the speed, and cracked her father's skull. The man got launched, slamming into the wall of the decrepit warehouse that was their training location now.

She followed his limp body, above him before he had a chance to recover, stabbing her spear downward. Narrowly he succeeded in rolling aside.

"Wait!" he yelled, stopping her in her tracks from following up. He let his arms drop, panting hard. Shinka hardly felt exhaustion anymore. These fights weren't enough. Her father was strong but not strong enough, not any more. She had grown somewhat, from being out of his league, to so far beyond his league that every time they trained, the risk of her killing him increased.

"I don't think training with me is going to help you grow anymore. I never imagined being thrown around by a teenage girl so easily. At least your my daughter, I can handle that." He struggled upright. "You're claiming that the Wicked Eye is even stronger still?"

"Yeah… I'm ninety percent sure that she was holding back too, or wasn't used to her powers yet." She felt frustrated. Her emotions were piling up. She gathered mana, coiling it around her arms.

"Shinka? What are you doing?" Takahiro dove to the ground. She extended her arms to her sides in a sudden movement, letting go of the mana, letting her emotions leave with the power. The warehouse around them vaporised to dust, letting sunlight shine on them.

"Shinka, warn me if you're going to do stuff like that! You know you can kill people like that!"

She sighed. Her father hadn't even noticed that her control was so precise that she only destroyed the brickwork. The wooden planks of the floor, the hill and grass beneath it were left completely unscathed, as was he.

"This is useless."

They shifted back into the real world, through what Yuuta had taken up as calling the Spectrum.

"Well, I'm going to kick Yuuta for fun. I don't think training with you is worthwhile anymore."

"I don't think it's going to help you anymore either."

"I'm never going to surpass her at this rate."

"You'll find a way. You always have."

"That's not much help, but thanks." She left the offices of her father and moved through the massive complex that was the temple. She wondered why they were still called temples. They haven't done anything temple-like in decades.

When she walked into the building of Yuuta's division, she noticed a flurry of activity. She stopped a scribe in a hallway.

"What is going on?"

The scribe shuffled some of the folders she was holding, hiding a black envelope as quickly as she could.

"I'll rephrase. What is Togashi-san up to now?"

"Nothing! He… I… Uhm… He, Walter and Shoichi formed a block. Renzo seems to support them, and they've been pushing motion after motion through the council. There are rumours that Renzo wants to elevate Yuuta to Lieutenant-Colonel, but I don't know about that."

"You are one of his people aren't you?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Of course you don't. Run along." The scribe sprinted off so fast, the floor would have been set on fire if real life had been a cartoon.

So Shoichi really was a Captain-Commandant now. It surprised her that Yuuta would allow the man to grow in rank. His aristocratic tendencies seemed the polar opposite of Yuuta's rank through merit system.

" _How likely was it that Yuuta had made that man do a complete one eighty on his morals and self-definition?"_  Very likely. Yuuta didn't even seem to do it on purpose. It just happened. People lined themselves up to his ideals unconsciously.

The Dark Flame Master might be hidden in Yuuta still, but Yuuta still was him, even if only in a small modicum of the real thing.

She marched into her boyfriend's section. Not a single captain to be seen in the group office. Yuuta must really be doing something if literally all his captains were gone. Again.

She didn't bother to knock when she walked into his inner office. Nashima, Walter, Shoichi and Yuuta were gathered around his desk. Nashima stood to the side, sipping tea, while Yuuta was furiously explaining… something. She couldn't grasp the intricacies because the conversation immediately halted as she entered.

"Nibutani-sama," Nashima nodded, while Walter and Shoichi gave a small bow, "Would you like some tea? I'm a decoration at the moment anyway."

"I would, but all of you should leave for a moment."

"Shinka, can this wait? It's important to do this as fast as I can. I'm trying to convince Renzo to put me up for Lieutenant-Colonel, and this half hour is literally the only time I don't need to be somewhere else right now."

"I don't care. I need to talk with you, and I'm the warleader anyway, so they'll listen to me and not you."

The other nodded and started leaving.

"Fine," Yuuta sighed deeply, "I guess I could use a break anyway."

"You are not giving me enough attention." The girl wandered around the desk, crawling into his lap, kissing him softly.

"While I don't mind this, is this why you came?" he asked her, before answering her kiss, deepening their embrace.

It was minutes later that she finally pushed him away to catch her breath. He should be a professional diver with those damn longs of his.

"I actually came to ask you to give me an Eye as well," she asked softly.

He sighed. "Again? I don't know how. I can't help you." He distanced himself from her a bit, but his hand remained around her hips.

"You could ask him."

"You really want this? You've seen what it has done to Rikka, and you've heard what it has done to those before her."

Her volume lowered even more, barely a whisper at this point. "I need to be able to stay beside you. I can't if you always have to protect me."

"What was that?"

"Please?"

"Alright, I'll try."

He closed his eyes and didn't seem to do anything.

* * *

" _Shifting in the other direction?"_ That hadn't made sense to him then, and it didn't make sense now. He tried though. Instead his body moving outward, he imagined it moving inward, shrinking, collapsing in on itself.

"Hello young one. Surprised you came here with her on your lap. Something is poking her behind."

" _Great, more of that."_

"I heard that. You can't really keep things from people in your head."

"You're making me sound crazy." He opened his eyes, and saw his other-self lounging in a couch, holding what seemed to be a porn mag.

"You are crazy," he flipped a page, which showed a centerspread. "Crazy that you are not spending time with this thing right now."

The page showed Shinka naked, her back arching as she came with him inside her, her hands grasping her breasts, sweat glistening on her body.

"How do you have that?!"

"Your memories, obviously."

"Not why I came here."

"Why did you come? It's the first time you've visited my humble abode of you own will."

"I came to ask about the Wicked Eye."

His playful mood disappeared immediately. "What about it?"

"I want to know how you made it. I want to give something similar to Shinka."

"Why?"

"She wants one?"

He could hear the teeth grind as the Master mulled over his words.

"No."

"No?"

"I won't tell you how to make an enhancement."

"Why not?"

"You are too weak to do it. You'll only kill her."

"I'm as strong as you are!"

"You are not. You have access to about seven percent of my power? At most? Hell I don't even know the limit of my strength at this point."

"Help me grow then?"

"You'll have to do that yourself, but since you are so curious about enhancements, let me show you the true birth of the Wicked Eye."

* * *

He was on a grassy hill. He was taller, his hair longer, hanging loosely over his shoulders. His skin a deeper bronze tan. His clothes were replaced with a sleeveless white tunic, that went all the way down to his knees.

He descended from the hill, approaching a Roman villa. Three young children sprinted out from the courtyard as he approached. None had his dark brown hair, all inheriting the almost white blonde their mother had.

The youngest two, twin girls, extended their arms. "Papa! Papa!" their tiny voices bellowed. He lifted both of them, cradling the girls in his arms.

"Did you find medicine for mom?" his last child asked, a boy three years older than the twins.

"No, but I think I know how I can help her."

A smile grew on the young boy's face. "Finally! She's been sick for so long."

"We'll have to see if it works." They walked into the courtyard. One of the servants approached and lifted the girls from his arm. They whined but accepted it.

"Play in the courtyard for a bit. I'm going to see your mother."

He walked into the flat house, ignoring room after room until he reached their bedroom.

"Augusta?"

"You're back Albus?" The voice was weak, crackly.

"Yeah. I think I figured out how to cure your disease."

The hollow cheeks of the woman in the bed cracked, showing a slight smile, before she was struck by a coughing fit. "That would be great. It's been so long since I've held Felix, or the twins. How? No doctor could help me, and no medicine helped."

"I think I figured out a way to transfer my ability to you."

Her eyes widened. She knew her husband was special. Her three children might not look like him, but they held that same mental fortitude.

"Then, I'll never get sick again?"

"You'll be as indestructible as me."

She clasped his arm, gripping him tightly. It was more strength then she had shown in years. Her illness had been lingering from before she had the twins, but the birth had taken a toll on her body she had been unable to recover from.

"Try," she pleaded.

He nodded. This was not something he'd done before. Or anyone had done before really. His wife was not special like him. In fact, he hadn't met anyone that was as special as him yet. His children were strong, but only if you compared them to the general special people. He was a class on his own, he was special on top of special. Which is why he thought he could help her.

He placed a hand on her head, and the other on her stomach. He focused, tentatively letting his powers flow through her body. He had healed others like him before. That was always easy, simply letting his powers flow through them, their bodies knew how to utilise it to heal themselves.

He had also healed normal people. That was harder. He himself had to regulate the power coursing through them, to not do more damage. It was still as simple as directing the power to where the wound was, to nurture that.

His wife was different. As far as anyone could tell, there was no physical ailment to her. She had no wounds, she didn't bleed out of any orifice except that which indicated her fertility still.

The body was weak, decaying. Nobody knew why. So he had to give strength to the body. Give it a vessel to house the same power that he housed. To create special were only normal existed.

"This might hurt," he whispered, knowing that his power coursing through her was soothing her pains.

He felt her nod, his eyes still closed. He pushed more power into her, shaping a place, carving it out in her, making place for the power he wanted to give her.

Her back arched, her teeth gritted, keeping herself strong. More power coursed in her, pushing aside the normal for the special. The hole was there, not yet a vessel, but a place for it to nestle existed. He started solidifying his power, shaping walls, and that was the end of her strength.

Her raspy voice was deformed into a high pitched scream. It drilled into his head, almost making him loose control over the delicate construct. Her arched back collapsed back into the bed. He kept working even as her voice lost strength, turning from high pitched to inaudible.

He had no idea how long he had been working. The vessel kept nearly collapsing, the special foreign in the normal. The normal trying to expulse the special. He pushed more power into it, strengthening it as much as he could.

The vessel finally stopped collapsing when he was nearly drained of all his strength. He wasn't done yet. He wasn't even sure he could finish anymore. He needed to connect the vessel to the outside, so that it could fill naturally as his did, and a connection to her body, so that her own energy could help fill it, and so that the body had access to it.

Then he still had to fill the vessel so that she had the energy to fight her disease. The vessel he had made was big, near as large as his. Filling it would not be easy. Her body was writhing under his hands, pain still coursing through her. He didn't know how long she was going to hold on.

He decided to make the outward connection first. He had to rip the veil between her spirit and the outside for that, and make a one way connection into the core. He drilled a small hole into that veil, widening it slowly. He could sense energy running into her, but it jumped back out just as fast.

He patched the hole, his power lacing over it. He made another hole in his own lace, creating another lace over it, bigger than the hole he'd made. Connecting that second lace to the edges of the hole in her veil. Good. Energy only flowed in now. When it tries to flow out the first lace gets pushed against the second, closing the hole.

One last step. One final thing. The connection from her spirit to her physical body. The energy flowed into the core, already filling it. Crossing over from the spiritual plane to the physical one was harder than you might think, even if both already existed in the being your working with.

He let his power flow out, searching for the connection that her body already had with her spirit. As he thought. For normals, that connection is incredibly small. After all, communication between spirit and body is all that was necessary for normals.

He connected the new core to the entrance of the bridge. Power followed the new lead, pushing into the bridge, that did not gave way. He didn't have much power left, but he knew what he had to do. He gathered as much of his power as he could without killing himself, placing it at the entrance.

He pushed, not letting the power disperse, stretching the bridge ever so slowly, pushing and pushing onward. Suddenly his power shot through, extending in every direction, disappearing completely. Her body shook, every muscle taut to its limit.

It was done. He opened his eyes, looking at his wife. She panted, her breath still raspy.

"Is it done?" she asked.

"I think so."

She opened her eyes, her amber eyes. Her right eye deepened in colour, turning golden, shining brightly. He collapsed next to her in exhaustion.

* * *

His eyes opened slowly. Moonlight filled the room. His wife was wrapped around him, like she always was because her limbs didn't warm up, always cold. Except they weren't now.

Two different coloured eyes looked up at him. "It worked," she whispered, her voice no longer raspy.

He sat up right and his wife followed. She was as bare as she was born. Getting dressed hurt her too much so she had spent a lot of time like this. Her body was like she was young again though. Like she had stopped aging at twenty summers as he had.

Her cheeks were puffy again, no longer hollow and sticking to her skull. The only difference between then and now was that single golden eye.

"It worked?"

She jumped out the bed, moving faster than she had in years. She jumped softly, touching the ceiling.

"How long did I sleep after healing you?"

"About an hour or two? The children were already asleep, so I just crawled back into bed with you."

"And you are sure it worked?"

"Want me to prove it?" his wife smirked, pushing him down on the bed, climbing on top of him, her hips on his.

"Wow wow wow? Calm down."

"Oh come on, it's been since the twins came. You been getting it somewhere else?"

"Never," he grinned.

She leaned over, kissing him deeply, her breast pushing against him. Her hands ran over his body, until they reached the hem of his tunic. Pulling at it, he cooperated as well as he could until she was able to wrestle the tunic of him.

His member was already pushing against hers.

"Frisky are we?"

"I believe it was you who started this."

"Very true," She licked her hand, before maneuvering him to her wetness, letting him sink deeply into her.

* * *

"Morning sleepy head!"

He groaned. "Not all of us have spent the last four years in bed you know."

"I want to see the kids! Let's go!"

He got up, pulling the discarded tunic from last night over his head. "And why do you need me for that?"

She was hopping at the door. "They haven't seen me in so long, I don't want to scare them."

"We can go now." He shook his head softly.

She pulled at the doorknob, and ripped it clean of the door. The metal rang as she dropped it on the floor.

"What?!"

"Right. You might not have noticed last night, since I usually am very soft with you, but I have super strength. So do you now. You'll get used to it. The kids should be able to handle it, but the servants not so much. Please don't kill anyone."

"Okay…?"

"Just calm down, and act like everything you touch is made from porcelain, because it basically is."

"Are you sure this is alright?"

"Me and your kids have lived with it most of our lives. It's fine."

They left the room. Felix was sitting in the hallway.

"Dad! Mom?!"

"Felix? Why are you here?" he asked.

"I was worried. You spend almost the whole day in the room with mom."

"It worked," his mother answered.

"Really?"

"Yes. Your father cured me completely!"

The boy jumped into his mother's arms. She swung him around before coddling him closely.

"I'm not that young anymore!" he pushed off and she put him down.

"You'll always be small enough for me to throw you around you know."

"Not untrue."

* * *

Life had been well for the last two weeks. After an incident where Augusta accidentally cut a table in half, she had learned how to control her new powers.

They were sitting at the table, Albus was reading through a scroll send to him from Rome. Something about an Organisation that wanted to recruit him. He threw it aside. It was another of those things that would die in a week.

Augusta suddenly started coughing.

"Augusta?"

"It's just a cough. Don't worry."

He nodded, keeping an eye on her anyway. When the coughing fit continued, he started to worry.

"Augusta?"

"It's fine!" She wiped at the corner of her mouth, wiping away the blood that had trickled out of it.

"You're not supposed to bleed."

"It's fine. The coughing is gone."

That was the first incident. Her behaviour changed slightly over time, sometimes asking for sex when the children were around, which she never used to do. Her mental state seemed to deteriorate.

A month after that first incident, she died.

She had woken up in the middle of the night, no longer in control of her body. Her powers ripped at the house, making the servants abandon it with the children.

"Augusta! Calm down! Get control!" He tried his best to dampen her power, but the uncontrolled fury was no longer stoppable.

"I'm sorry Albus." A force pushed against his body, slamming him through a wall. The house collapsed.

He joined the servants with his children. "Mom?" Felix asked.

He could only shake his head. He lowered himself to his knees. "We'll be fine. I'll build-" his voice stopped. He looked directly in a golden eye. Alba's right eye, which used to be green was gold.

"What is it Albus? Am I wearing too much?" the little girl coyly asked.

"Felix. I need you to take Augusta with you. Go live in Rome with your aunt. Alba is going to stay with me. I think she has the same illness as her mother."

"I won't see you then?"

"I'll live here with Alba. You can come in emergencies, but only then."

* * *

"My daughter was almost completely swallowed up by my wife's personality, and not her regular one, the unnerved, unhinged one from her final days."

Yuuta was back.

"It seemed that Augusta suffered from some type of cancer. Ability Users are completely immune to it, but as she was normal before, she contracted the disease. Our inherent healing abilities caused the cancer to grow rapidly, but our healing kept her alive as well. She was a walking tumour by the end, her mind completely addled."

Yuuta had nothing to say. He had felt the love he once held for the woman he just saw die.

"Alba never recovered, being a mix between my wife and my undeveloped daughter. It only grew worse when Alba's developing personality was corrupted by Augusta's. At some point, during a night, she suddenly disappeared. Since she was near as strong as me, I was unable to track her."

"I-,"

"I lost two people I loved because of what you're asking of me. Due to my own decisions. You don't know anything. I will not teach you how to make an enhancement for your woman. I'd say I expect a thank you, but I'm sure I won't get it."

"I'm sorry."

"Huh… pity… never expected to receive that from myself. I hope you enjoyed yourself. I gave you a little something as a trade for me seeing yours."

"Do you really not care?"

"I've been pretending so long, it might be true. Oh, because I unlocked those small memories, the rest of that period should be coming soon too. Enjoy yourself, you might learn a thing of two from her… she was quite the animal when she was young."

"But---, I---," he hesitated, somehow this seemed important, "What are you?"

"I'm you, I'm me, we're a lot of things. None that actually matter though."

"I-,"

"End of this conversation."

* * *

"Back?" she was curdled against his chest.

"Yeah…"

"And?"

"He won't teach me?"

"Why not?!" she pushed herselft up, staring into his eyes. Her amber reminded him of Augusta. His mind leaped, and tears jumped into his eyes.

"Wait, what's wrong Yuuta?"

Yuuta explained everything he had come to learn. By the end, Shinka was curled up again, sobbing softly.

"He's broken, isn't he?"

"Completely and absolutely shattered."

"And you're going to be like him?"

"I don't have to be. If I can prevent it, I'll never be."

"Good."

"Can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"Don't ever die?"

"If I can, I will never ever leave you. That I can promise."

He nodded. "I'll help you get stronger. I might not be able to make you an enhancement, but I can teach you things no one but me knows. Growing will be easier fighting someone stronger than you for once."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit different. I hope you all enjoyed some light being shone on one of the past events. When I was finished with this chapter, which I wrote in a single sitting, I was quite satisfied. The worst and/or best judge of your own work is you yourself though, so I'd love to hear from all of you. Next chapter will be in another two weeks.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	21. Replacement

**20: Replacement**

She panted heavily.  _"He is too strong! He's stronger than Rikka was, and according to his other-self he's only tapping into a small percentage of his power?"_

"You ready to go again? Or do I need to give you some more energy?"

He wasn't even goddamn winded. He was brushing her aside as if she was a child, even with those advanced techniques he had been teaching her.

It was noon, and they were supposed to be lunching, but with Yuuta's busy schedule, they had been cramming training sessions into every hour they could find for the past week. He had been giving her energy along the way so that they could fully utilise as much time as they could.

"Yeah, I could use another shot." A golden glow extended from his finger that was loosely pointed at her. It touched her, covering her exhausted body, filling it with power once more. It didn't help for mental exhaustion, but for this, it was perfect.

She braced herself, lifting her white oak spear again. "I'm ready."

He was looking at the sun. "I think this'll be our last fight for now. An hour has almost passed." Digital watches and other electronic devices didn't work well here, so they had to rely on the sun or moon to know how long they had been there.

"That's alright, let's make this one matter then." She charged at him, letting her energy flow through her weapon as he had taught her.

His weapon sliced through the air as he readied himself to catch her attack.

Energy flared from the tip of her spear. She focused on it, shaping it, narrowing it, until it was as sharp as her own weapon was, ready to cut through any defence he threw up.

"It doesn't matter how strong you make your weapon, if you can't hit me, you lose." He sidestepped her charge, flicking his wrist. His weapon shot upward, knocking her spear aside. Having to focus on regaining her balance she lost control of the energy, it flared up and dissipated in the air.

His blade approached her almost completely unprotected back. Energy flowed to her legs, and she slipped away barely.

"Good! Focus on manoeuvrability, not power."

She spread the energy more evenly through her body. Her weapon whistled as it sped up, and she charged in again.

He stabbed his blade in to the ground, and because of her training, she could see the glow of his power around his forearms.

She gritted her teeth. He wasn't underestimating her. He just didn't need the weapon. He was just that much stronger.

Her weapon struck at his head, the blade nearly cutting into him before he knocked it aside with his left arm. Using the force of the knock back, she spun the weapon behind her back, striking at his midriff with the other end.

He caught that strike instead of deflecting it, blocking her momentum completely. His energy flared, and he grabbed her spear. He pulled hard, drawing her of balance. In a single move, he jumped up and forward, grabbing her forehead with his other hand.

" _Fuck."_

Her body crumbled in as small a heap as it physically could as he slammed her head into the ground, turning her body upside down in the process.

"Ouch…" she whimpered. He had caught her, being careful that he didn't hurt her too much, but that did not mean she didn't feel pain.

"You alright?" he sounded concerned at least.

"Well, relatively fine I guess." She slowly moved her body from the crumpled position to a lying position. Her muscles cramped and hurt from being used beyond their limit. It was an after effect from using her power to increase her physical capabilities.

"I'll heal you up, and then we'll have to go," he approached her, kneeling down at her side.

"Got it, just hurry up. My legs hurt."

He hover his hand above her body, and his power filled her softly. She felt lighter, faster, stronger for those few moments, but then the power and the feeling dissipated. She was healed.

* * *

"How is there this much difference between you and me? We're all Ability Users right?"

"Well, as far as I can tell, it's because you are all diluted products."

"Alright, explain! No one has any clue what you are talking about when you answer things like that!"

He raised his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be. It's just that not everything I know is my own knowledge. I don't understand everything myself either."

She waved the comment away. "It's fine, just try to be clearer please. Having to ask you what you mean constantly is very exhausting."

"I'll try. Anyway, like I said, you are diluted. By that I mean your DNA is."

"Continue…" she listened closely.

"Well, as far as I can tell, during the time I first existed, there weren't a lot of Ability Users, they didn't even have a name back then, and most of them were not much stronger than the average human, just being more in sync with the Spectrum as others."

"Until you came around?"

"Until I came around. I was a class on my own. Stronger, faster, and smarter than anyone else. I might have been revered as a god if I wanted to. That was, until I had children and I created the Wicked Eye."

"They were like you?"

"Not perfectly, but they all were quite close. Felix was the weakest of the three, and the twins were similar in strength. They had children with normals, and those children were again a bit weaker than them. Surprisingly enough, Alba was able to produce offspring as well, and they were slightly stronger than the normal her, but not the augmented her."

"And this continued on and on?"

"Yes. Most Ability Users, likely including you, are descendant from me in some form. It took you too long to notice the lost strength from breeding with non-Ability Users, and then you mostly searched your own kind. Touka is an anomaly that once held strength nearing one of my children, she's from a mixed bloodline."

"As was your mother?"

"My mother had no link whatsoever to the Spectrum, so I can't put it in a powerscale. DNA-wise she was oddly similar to me."

"And what did you mean by mixed bloodline?"

"Other Ability Users started inbreeding their families to augment their own powers. Touka is one that descends from one of those lines, and mine."

"And me?"

"You? I never investigated you, so I wouldn't know. That's why I said likely."

"Could you? I'm curious…"

"Well, I don't really have the same skills and time that I had back then, but I can try."

* * *

Her head hurt. Her brains throbbed.  _"Where the hell is my sister?"_

She waved away someone… whose name she could not remember, and answered Kennou Kai. "The Temple Council can do whatever they want for all I care, I'll let them know when they displease us, not before. They may grovel for forgiveness, instead of permission."

"Takanashi-sama, I don't think that is the best way to interact with our allies. The Organisation does not have a large presence here due to our accords, and they have the manpower to push us out completely at this point. The only thing that could prevent that was the Grand Priestess."

Her aura flared, scattering smaller items, and even the furniture moved. "I'll handle them!" Every single word sounded like a growl.

Kennou lowered the arms that had protected his face. "Of course ma'am."

" _Why did Touka leave me in charge. No one in the Organisation trusts me."_

It had only been quiet for the first week after Touka had disappeared. After that, Organisation members started sending messages asking for orders, or to report something. She couldn't quite wrap her head around the way the Organisation operated in this country.

It hadn't taken long before she started listening to herself. The voices that gave her advice knew what they were doing, at least more than her. The Organisation was like a guerrilla group in enemy territory. Very small cells of five to ten people, that tried to gain influence, political or otherwise.

It didn't work well. The dozens of deals that had been made with the Temple Council prevented them from creating a proper base, they couldn't own businesses, and any highbrow politician would get assassinated if tracked back to them, so they didn't even bother.

"You call them allies… they are not. We are their invaders, and that's how they view us. I don't know who has been making these deals that basically seal us in a dirt hut, so I can't really do anything else then let them walk all over us."

"Mistress, I think you misunderstand."

"I think you all misunderstand! Where else is the influence of the Organisation so weak?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. We were once created by the descendants of the Original Ability Users, a way to protect all of us, and so we didn't meet any resistance until the Temple Council. That shouldn't have made a smidge of a difference, after all, we had almost their entire country booked before they united, and still they managed to push us out. How?"

"I don't exactly know…"

"Our message was lost when we grew power hungry. Human nature got the best of us. And when the wars ended, we tried to compromise. We lost. It wasn't a compromise. They milked us for all we had here."

Kennou looked shocked. His mouth was half-open as he nodded.

"As long as we can't expand, the only thing we can do is gather information. If someone on the Temple Council sneezes, I want to know."

The other people in the room nodded and left, having received their orders.

She sighed.

She had to admit she cared little for the Organisation and its goals. The only reason she worked for them is because her sister did as well. Her sister had disappeared however. She hadn't heard anything from her in some time, nothing after a short text that she had landed.

She shouldn't have to worry about Touka at all, the woman had always been stronger than her, until recently. Something didn't feel right though.

" _Maybe I should talk to Yuuta?"_  She pondered a bit before shaking her head. Her sister's fine. She didn't need help from them. Touka would be real upset if she got saved by her nemesis.

The throbbing started hurting now, painful spikes as memories tried to push into her mind. She had hoped by forcefully diving into the memories they'd leave her alone. She had been wrong.

She had learned to not fight the memories though. The voices didn't like that.

* * *

Corpses littered the ground around her. Dying man and women screaming and crying for help, or a god to save them. The smell of iron and blood filled her nose, the stench of burning human flesh, of death and decay. The moon shone on the battlefield, illuminating the splattered remains of her allies and enemies alike.

Fire whipped around her legs, but she didn't feel it as it ate away at her skin. The only pain she felt was her energy draining away through a massive blade that she was unable to lift.

"I never thought you'd be my enemy," a man approached her. She didn't recognise his face in the flickering shadows. She recognised his presence. He had been her husband in one life, her master in another, her enemy in this life, and so much more in so much others.

The battle had raged for four consecutive days, and she knew that he had been at the front lines for every single second they had been fighting. She also knew that there were not going to be a lot of survivors on her side.

"That weapon is mine… you know what it does when people other than me try to wield it," he didn't even sound out of breath. He had carved through her army as if it had been paper, and the only reason the battle had taken so long is because he had been protecting his allies. If he hadn't cared, he would have simply ripped the ground away, and the sky to fall on top of them.

"Shut your fucking mouth! I'm ending all of this! When we kill you, the cycle will be broken and we will be free!" Smoke entered her lungs, and she coughed, blood dripping from her mouth. Her multiple wounds didn't bother her, but as her energy drained, so drained her life. She couldn't hold on much longer.

"Not with that weapon. Not as you are now. And I'm sorry, but the cycle can never be broken."

"You don't know anything! They told me!"

"If they is Augusta, or Alba, or anyone that had that thing before you, they were wrong. And insane."

"Well then so am fucking I! Die! Please just die!" She used her whole weight as a counterbalance for the sword. It cut into her back as she slowly lifted it from the scorched ground, but she didn't feel the pain. Her body had long since given up feeling pain.

The blade was finally fully upward, ready to crash down on its former wielder. Gravity took over as it started dropping. The world seemed to slow down.

She could see him breathe in slowly, his heartbeat perfectly level. Even in all of this he was calm. Insanity was the only explanation for his being.

The weapon dropped, and he slapped it aside as if it weighed nothing. Time sped up again, and so did he. She felt his hand pierce into her abdomen, his fingers wrapping around her intestines.

Blood spilled from her mouth as he clenched down.

"This world isn't as kind as you think it is. Hope no one implants that thing in a new person, and you have your wish. But I won't die. I am as eternal as time. I'll try to break the cycle again here. Until you return once more."

His hand pulled back, ripping her guts out of her as if it were nothing.

"I wonder what you'll be next time," he mused before turning and leaving, taking the massive sword with him.

Her powers kept her alive. Even with not a single organ still in the correct place, her powers kept her living. Her death was slow. At the very least she didn't feel the pain. At the very least, they got to see him again.

* * *

" _Even when we hate him, we love him,"_ one of the voices whispered.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. I don't love him, nor do I hate him. You guys ever tried being neutral?" Rikka asked the empty room in front of her.

She didn't get an answer from the voices. She never did. They gave her advice, forced memories upon her, but never answered her questions.

She felt her abdomen, knowing that it be in the same unmarred condition as it had been before the memory invaded her, but the memories felt as much as reality as anything else she had experienced in her life. She had just died, her intestines ripped out, bleeding to death slowly, clinging to a life she hadn't wanted.

She shook her head to dispel the thoughts. She was herself, and not anyone else, no matter who she had been. Her life was her own.

She grabbed her phone and send another text to her sister. Maybe she would answer this time.

She groaned. She lived way too close to Yuuta. She sensed that Shinka was there again, as she had been most of the time lately.

What was odd was that she felt Yuuta's energy flaring like a heartbeat. Even when they trained, Yuuta hardly ever let his power out, for fear of killing the weak girl he loved.

" _If he were with me, he didn't have that issue."_  She crushed that thought immediately.

She still didn't have an answer for what he was doing, but she was too tired to care.

* * *

"I'll teach you."

"Why? What the fuck changed?!" Yuuta was in his inner world again, sucked in moments before falling asleep.

"You. In training with the girl you learned near perfect control of your power. You might have more detailed control then I ever did."

"So you will teach me how to make an enhancement for Shinka now?"

"No. I'll teach you how to make enhancements for inanimate objects. Then we'll move on to animals and other lesser creatures. Then I'd like to test on an Ability User, but I assume that'll be going too far?"

Yuuta nodded.

"Bit hypocritical but fine. Then you can try on Shinka, possibly killing her, but hell, what do I care."

"Your own sanity maybe?"

The other him laughed, "Really? You think I still possess anything similar to that? You're going to make me cry." He continued laughing.

"You seem rational most of the time though."

"Rational? Sane? We've long since transcended such human concepts. You still haven't realized, have you?"

"Realized what?"

"We are not human! We are demigods, possibly even just gods! The only person ever nearing our level in this era could only beat us because we used all our power saving her sister. And nearing is almost an insult!"

"You can't be serious…" Yuuta regarded his own insanity. He saw what he'd become soon enough.

"Why do you think there aren't a thousand different enhancements? No one except for us can make any! We are the sole creature that has an existence far surpassing anything else! We will always be alone!"

"If we succeed in creating a STABLE enhancement for Shinka, we might not be."

"We will be. She'll die eventually, while we will exist indefinitely."

"I'll prevent her death!"

"How? You saw what happened when I tried!"

"I'll do it better then you!"

"You can try… but you'll be just like me eventually." The wry smile might actually give Yuuta nightmares.

* * *

Yuuta hadn't much enjoyed the tutelage of his past self. The man seemed to dip further and further into his insane self. It didn't matter though. He was himself, and the Master had said that they might turn out different. He doubted it, but hadn't dismissed the possibility.

He focused his attention on the fork in front of his crossed legs for the fourth time that night. Nibutani was fast asleep and he didn't need as much sleep as he pretended to do.

The metal form shined in the moonlight and he was intimately familiar with it. Every blemish, every fault. That one tine that was angled differently than the others, the small dent in the middle of the handle where the oils from their skin had eaten at the metal.

He was absolutely sure he could reproduce the exact same fork, though no one would be impressed by that. It was an important condition for enhancement. Knowing what you wanted to enhance inside out and back.

For the fourth time, he started weaving a lace around the inconspicuous object. The metal seemed to shrink away from his power, but seemed to reach for it at the same time. When he felt the lace was done, he started lowering it into the form.

This was always the hardest part. Enhancements went against nature. Forcefully placing power in objects that were not designed to handle it. Things rejected them, that was the pain Augusta had felt. The fork might not be able to feel pain, but that didn't make things easier.

The weave started to be rejected, warping, and he almost lost it again. He gritted his teeth as he pushed the lace back into place, forcing it further into the thing.

His energy drained faster than he had expected, but he was getting close, closer than ever before. His power flared, almost growling in his mind. He had not handled this much power in his life, he hadn't needed it.

Suddenly the web snapped into place, and he tumbled forward from the disappearing counter force.

The fork didn't look any different. He picked the thing up, and immediately felt it sap on his energy like a thirsty animal.

" _Well, that seems about right."_  He had succeeded in enhancing the dumbest object ever. He threw the fork at the wall, expecting it to sink into the wall. He was startled by the result. The wall had a hole ripped through it. And not a small one, bigger than his fist.

The thundering crack he heard seconds after could only mean that he had also felt a tree. With a fork.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for being a bit late with this chapter. I had a rough week. This chapter was planned a bit differently than the end result. There were some other events I wanted to focus on, but after writing them out, they felt out of place, so I took another route. I don't know. This chapter is somewhat transitional. Chapters might start becoming longer, I feel like I'm not hitting enough plot points a chapter. I don't want to make the story too fast though... we'll see. Let me know what you think of the this chapter.
> 
> Thank you for reading


	22. Descent

**21: Descent**

Yuuta was panting hard, but nevertheless showed a grin from ear to ear. Range, which had always been an issue for him, was no longer that.

A silver IMI Desert Eagle, enhanced to perfection. The weapon itself was scary enough, 50 calibre rounds that could make a man's innards explode with ease. Now, it was almost a nuclear deterrent, depending on what he wished to use it for.

It no longer needed any ammunition, but it still could fire regular bullets. The weapon was near indestructible, strong enough to handle all of his power in a single concentrated force. The gun itself didn't need his power to function, with it only needing bullets created from his power, and he could make as many of those as he needed.

He had made several magazines, with different strengths. A small mark indicated how strong the bullets in it were. A roman one, I, indicated the lowest strength, but that did not make them weak in any sense. He estimated that it would rip through the defences of a Major-General class creature, and then some.

The second type, marked with a roman five, or a V, was the middle class, and probably the one he'll be using the most of. He had not met an Ability User with enough stopping power to defend against these, with the exception of Touka, Rikka and maybe Shinka, though he doubted that.

The last he really wanted to use, just to see what they'd do, but he might kill himself in the process. An X, a roman ten, marked these last ones. He had poured every drip of his power in those. As much as he could without dying. And he had come close.

These might even be able to kill him… and he now realized it might not have been the best idea to make them. He let the clips vanish, stocked inside that vast dimension only he could access, unique to him, as were the places Rikka and Shinka stored their weaponry. A single magazine he kept, one marked with an I, and slid that into the weapon.

The gun felt good in his hand, maybe even better than Ganjouna ever did, even if it had been handmade for him too. Something about making it himself made it feel even more like a part of him. Even if he wasn't holding it, he felt he could exert control over it somehow.

"You need a name, don't you buddy?" his voice trailed off as he pondered. He was in his room alone, on a weird off day. Shinka would be coming over later, but he had specifically asked her to come late, so he could work on this.

The Dark Flame Master had only two days ago approved of him making the weapon, judging him skilled enough at enhancing to make something that could actually be useful, after a week of training. He already owned the skill after all, he just needed some practice.

He focused his power on the slide of the gun. The small black flame that popped up surprised, but didn't scare him. He had grown into the powers of his former self, wearing them as a cloak. Not yet a Master, he was no longer the Apprentice either.

The flame danced over the slide, leaving black letters on its surface. A weapon worthy of a king it was, and so it deserved a name worthy of a king. The gun had a name now, which had been used in stories for ages, but would get a whole new meaning for his kind.

The black flame popped out of existence as it finished the last letter.

"Excalibur," he whispered, reading the black letters. The undefeatable weapon of legends reincarnated. He was proud of his accomplishment.

" _You did good,"_ echoed in his head. Like he expected anything less. They were becoming closer and closer to a single being, even if Yuuta had not gone traipsing into the insanity that still waited on him according to his counterpart.

" _Living creatures are next, you ready for that?"_  Of course he was. He had felt ready for a while. Living creatures were different than static objects, but it felt clearer to him. Maybe it's because he had access to the memory that created the Wicked Eye.

"I guess I should thank you for the gun?" he asked, unnecessarily out loud. He deemed himself saner if he didn't talk with voices in his head. He cocked his head to listen to the answer.

" _Thanks are needless,"_  the whisper came,  _"It was yours to begin with, you just didn't know it existed. After all I'm dead, I don't own anything anymore."_

Yuuta nodded. "I'm guessing you don't have animals lying around?" His body almost reflexively chuckled along with the voice in his head.

" _No. Just go to a pound and get a cat or something."_

He had some time to go before Shinka showed up. Only a bit though. And then he would have to explain to Nibutani what he was doing. Which she would heavily object against. It could wait.

Unless whatever Renzo had given him a day of for held in more work when he came back. If only he could dilute time progression somehow. "Wishful thinking will bring me nowhere." The gun disappeared at a wave of his hand, a flash as black as a starless night consumed it.

* * *

Her headache was crushing her consciousness. She rubbed her temples, hard enough to leave red marks where her fingers had been.

"Takanashi-sama?" a messenger held up something irrelevant. Why must all these useless peons constantly bother her. Had they no brain of their own? They needed written orders to go to the damn toilet, or at least made it seem that way.

"What is it?" she growled. The man jumped. The Wicked Eye had a reputation, even from before she had it, and she herself was not helping that.

"I need this signed," he whispered, scared to even look at her. The man was taller her by more than half again her size, having to duck under door frames to enter rooms, but he cowered in front of her. Everyone did lately. She hadn't been the nicest.

"Why?" she asked, her voice as soft as his was. It sounded like the hiss of a snake. The man fumbled with the documents he was holding, looking for the answer that would satisfy her. None would.

"It's protocol?" A worthless answer from a worthless being.

"Does it look like I give a damn about protocol?" her voice was still soft, but had gained a threatening edge.

"I don't think so…" his voice trailed off, become ever quieter.

"Think? So you can think? I thought that was impossible for you people!" Her voice was no longer soft. Rage tinged every word. "Leave if you hold your life dear, because I don't."

The man skittered away like the bug he was. Smarter than some of the others, who had tried to push her anyway. She hadn't killed anyone… yet, but she had ensured they would not speak to her ever again. Three half rotten flabs of meat were nailed to a wall at her side, the tongues of those that thought they could tell her what to do.

Slicing them out with a heated blade had left her more satisfied than anything else the past few weeks. Touka had better come back soon, or she had to learn sign language to understand her underlings. Her headache throbbed at the thought of her sister, but she ignored it.

For once, it was just a regular headache, and not one created by those fucking voices. They constantly caressed her mind now, to the point that she sometimes didn't know if an idea was her own, or one of theirs. That first sliced tongue might have been theirs. The second and third had definitely been hers though.

She grinned. Seeing the men and women trash around, trying to cope with the pain, unable to bring any sound out of their throats except an unintelligible squeal left her raw. She knew that wasn't completely her personality, but then again, she had always found pleasure in the suffering of others.

She felt Nibutani arrive downstairs, and felt anger flare inside her. More anger supressed it quickly. She would not let them influence her here. That was a point they would never be able to topple her on. She pushed her sixth sense away, hiding the sensations that their energy evoked.

She almost wished she hadn't let the man go. She could go about torturing someone. It might have even helped her headache, dopamine flushing through her system as she enjoyed his cries. It would have been interesting to see how she could inflict pain on him, how much she could hurt him before his mind gave in.

Just the thoughts send exhilarating shivers down her spine, and a low groan left her throat. Yes, the next one would not so easily escape. Normally she wouldn't do this, out of fear of the repercussions from her sister, but since she hadn't heard from her for over a month, she couldn't make herself care.

She did care about her sister though. She worried from time to time, but always put it right back out of her mind, knowing that that woman would have no issue destroying anything that needed destroying. Politics were probably keeping her, with the mass of paperwork she had apparently been doing here, it was understandable, if annoying.

Maybe she should send one of her lackeys to check up on her? The Priestess will likely not like that. The very opposite in fact. Would she risk the rage of her sister or not? She could, her sister was no longer stronger than her, it would not be hard.

An idea formed in her head. If she was going to anger her sister anyway, why not double down and ask Yuuta to go for her. Her sister would throw a fit that might rip whatever building she's in straight back into the dust whence it came. Yes. A good idea.

* * *

"Congratulations Togashi-same. Welcome to the inner Temple," the scribe bowed and left his chambers.

He groaned. He should have known that Renzo was going to do this. The man didn't seem to dislike him per se, but Yuuta felt he messed with whatever plans the Major had had, and wanted to be off with him as soon as possible.

Yuuta's influence was far spread and strong in this temple. Tendrils in every Section, every Division, and every single subset that existed. He had eyes and ears in every other Temple as well, though none high enough to hear what the Temple Council itself did. Soon though.

Work had piled up though. While Nashima, Walter and Yamishita took a load of his shoulders, the Division had great expectations from him at every step, and he could not push those things off to the others.

He only expected it to grow worse now. He looked around the room that was now his, the rooms of a Lieutenant-Colonel. The first room was as big as the group office had been. The corner to the left of the entryway was adorned with two dark blue sofas, rectangular in shape. In between these was a black lacquered coffee table, enriched with a silver candelabra.

A window cut through the wall, opposite of where he entered, letting in the evening sun, curtains of the same blue as the couches. To the left of the window were several bookcases, filled to the brim with their namesake content. A heavy fauteuil, the cushions a dark red was placed there, likely to be used as a reading place.

To the right was a small dining set. Black lacquered table, 4 high chairs and another candelabra, the same type as on the coffee table, were the only thing that caught his eye there. The last corner, to his immediate right, grasped even less attention. A small desk, as white as snow, and a low white chair right behind it. For the assistant he'd never get.

He walked to the door that led deeper into his chambers, right between the dining set and the desk. The next room was quite bald in comparison to the previous one. One wall was completely occupied by windows. The red evening light bounced of a white desk in the middle of the room, bigger and heavier than he had ever had.

Vines were carved into the white wood with such intimate detail he could swear that they had once been real. The heavy white chair behind it was just as beautiful. The back of the chair was carved in such a way that it looked like a tree had sprouted right then and there. The last furniture here were filing cabinets against the wall opposite of the window, their black metal glimmering in the last daylight.

Exactly opposite lied the last chamber of his new office. He grinned. A canopy bed, with thin blue fabric stood against the wall opposite of him. More windows on his left, with the same curtains as throughout the whole office. A small black desk was pushed against the wall to his right, and two more bookcases were here.

If this was his office, he wondered what Shinka had to call home here.

"You getting settled in alright?" a woman's voice entered his ears as he was studying the intricate carving of the bed.

He twisted on his heels. He had not sensed her coming. A scribe? She sauntered in, dropping on his bed. The bright red dress, contrasting the blues heavily, left little to the imagination. Her tanned skin showed at her sides, through a cut at the legs that went almost as high as her legs went, and her voluptuous bosom nearly spilled out of its constraints.

"So young, and yet already here… I don't know if you are extremely skilled, or extremely lazy," she said with a slow drawl. Not a scribe. Most definitely not a scribe. "It's been some time that the bed in my chambers has been used… maybe I'll use this one tonight." Her blue eyes held a promise that he would not have understood just a couple of weeks ago.

"I thank you miss, but I am not available," he tried to sound hard and clear, but it came out as a croak. His other-self had not been monogamous after the loss of his wife, and the woman was pretty. Very pretty.

She flicked her long blond hair aside, uncovering more of her breasts. "Hmm… it don't think I was offering. I was claiming." She suckled softly on a finger, implying things that Shinka and he had not done… yet.

"I'm no one's to claim," his voice sounded stronger now.

"The first night is always to the claim of the first that finds you. It's even handier you are already in the bedroom." She grabbed his hand pulling him toward her. He set a single step before he braced himself, succeeding in keeping his footing. "Oh don't worry, I like my meat a bit feisty."

"Woman!" his voice cracked through the air. "I said no."

She smiled. "Oh? I don't mind if you want to take the lead. Here, in the inner command, we hardly ever need to command anyway. You would not be the first I serviced." She gave up on pulling him to the bed, and moved her hands to his pants, deftly unzipping them, licking her lips in the meantime.

" _You are such a helpless whelp."_  He felt the other him teaching, scrolling through memories, pushing of unwished advances and more. By the time he came out of it, his pants were already around his ankles, and the hands were gripping his boxers.

He prepared himself to put an end to this, but, "Lieutenant-Colonel Okuda Michiro!" He recognised that voice. This could be bad.

"Nibutani-sama?" the woman stood up in shock, pulling Yuuta aside with the elastic she was boxers left his hips as he was thrown on the bed, but the woman did not look at him any longer.

"Scram!" the younger girl commanded, her voice filled with the anger that Yuuta knew he was going to be subjected to in moments. The woman jumped, and almost threw herself through the room, but not without looking back on last time and mouthing "Later," at him.

Shinka smiled at her now half naked boyfriend. "You enjoying yourself?" That smile meant he was going to be killed.

"I swear I was just about to stop her."

"Sure you were." The anger was still there. He moved to dress himself, but her hand stopped him. "You don't think you are getting away that easily do you? Strip."

* * *

His back still hurt the next day. The cuts in his skin had healed almost instantaneously, but that had only made Nibutani more fervent to make a permanent mark with her whip. He slowly got up as to not wake her sleeping next to him.

He rolled his shoulders, trying to get the tension that had built in his muscles out. The bed had been comfortable enough, but the night had been rough. He pushed the last remnants of his dreams away, and retrieved his underwear and pants. A minute later he was dressed and left the bedchamber, into his office.

His steps faltered. There was nothing on his desk. He had never seen such an empty desk in the temple ever before. Did they not know he had taken this office? Impossible. Maybe it was all on the smaller desk. He walked further, entering the antechambers of his offices.

"Good morning Togashi-sama," the voice was bright, coming from his immediate left. The small desk was occupied. Short dark hair framed a dark tanned face, the eyes a colour that seemed to shift between green and brown, hidden behind frameless glasses. She was pretty, though not as lascivious as the woman from last night. The girl next door type of pretty.

"Good morning," he mumbled, his brows frowned when he saw that she was solving a crossword puzzle. She did not have any work either?

"My name is Eguchi Saori. I've been assigned as your assistant," she bowed from in her chair.

"Nice to meet you?" He was seriously confused. The girl's stare was what made him move. Diving back into his office, he quickly retrieved a shirt.

"Nice to meet you too," her voice was still bright. "Would you like me to get breakfast for you and Okuda-sama?"

"No! Okuda is not here. My girlfriend, Shinka is here," he barely kept his voice level. Did everyone know about what happened last night?

"Oh? I was sure Okuda-sama was first. Most of the women were trying to get first claim on you. Most of the man that get this rank have already old. A young man like you attracted a lot of attention."

"Do you guys think about anything else other than sex?!" he lost his cool.

"We don't need to. The majors take care of all the business. We simply exist as a back-up force. I'm sure you're aware that not only political skill but strength determines rank here. From Lieutenant-Colonel and up, work trickles to a slow, and to keep the high rankers happy, they often simply take scribes, and other to their beds for enjoyment. Let me know if you need any of those services, and I'd be happy to please you."

"What the actual fuck. I don't need your services! And I don't need anyone else's either!" Yuuta was tumbling into a black hole. Was this what Shinka had wanted him to join? Some sex crazed maniacs with magic powers?

"Calm down sir. I'm only offering before I'm taken. You don't have to fear me being used by anyone else either if that is the issue. A new high ranker gets a new assistant and assistants are personal to the ranker. Unless you choose to lend me out of course." The girl's smile had not faltered for a single second.

"I'd rather rip this place to shreds than force that onto anyone." She seemed surprised. As if he was swimming against the current.

"I do appreciate it, sir," she bobbed her head, but confusion filled her eyes.

"Listen to me. Send a message to a scribe name Yamishita Kazuma. Get him here. Then go get breakfast for me and Nibutani-sama, you know, your warleader. Set the table and then scram. Lock the door as you leave."

A mischievous light popped up in her eyes. "I see you want to break in the other rooms. If you wish for privacy, please wait at least half an hour."

"That's not what I meant!" he yelled at the open door that she had left through while he was still stunned. He growled, and marched back into the bedroom.

"What the actual fuck is wrong with you people!?" he yelled, this time at the sleeping form of his girlfriend. She woke with a shock sitting upright immediately. Her crossbow appeared in one hand, while another kept the blanket covering her bare form. The magic that jolted into place was aimed directly at him.

The angry green tinted lightning disappeared with the crossbow when the amber eyes recognised him. The blanket dropped as she rubbed in her eyes. "Why are you so loud in the morning?"

"What is wrong with this upper hierarchy crap?!" He could not keep his silence. He seethed with anger. He felt toyed with.

She looked down, her eyes not meeting his. A minute passed before she sighed deeply. "I guess I should have warned you."

"You could say that! You knew this was how these people acted and still punished me?"

"You still deserved that punishment. But yes. The upper echelon has little to do except being a measure of how strong a temple is. They only get orders when they are needed, so they spent most of their time reading, studying tactics and… well… fucking each other like rabbits. Any offspring gets caught by the temple, as they are usually also powerful Ability Users."

"Do you not hear how insane that sounds? The most capable people are doing the least? Whose dumb idea was that?!"

"It's always been this way! I don't have any say in it either. And my father is reluctant to change it because it might chase of all of them."

"Who cares?! They're all useless slugs!"

She sighed again, even deeper this time. "You're the one who asked me to be part of this, knowing what kind of crap I'd land in?"

"I was planning on being here first! If I claimed you, you should have been left alone mostly." She sounded defensive.

"You're insane if you think I'll keep being part of this sham. I already had Yamishita called. As soon as we can get it set up, I'm creating my own organisation. I'll topple all of the temples if I have to. None of you have an inkling about the point of Ability Users!" He marched off leaving her scrambling after him.

She caught him at his new and now also old desk. "Yuuta please! I don't like this either! We can change it. When you climb some more, when you can replace me, and I can replace my father, we can fix this!"

"This should never have needed being fixed." He had grabbed her arms, pinning her against the desk. She was panting and red in the face from the argument.

"I see you've already started early this morning…" a slur came from the door. The woman from last night licked her lips at seeing Nibutani's body. "Do you mind if I join?" she started removing a shoulder from the red gown he remembered. A breast bared.

His anger kept whatever attraction he had felt yesterday close under wraps. Ganjouna appeared in his hand as he stood between her and Shinka. He pointed the heavy blade at her. "Listen to me, you retarded cunt, you have three seconds to leave here and never ever come back. If you don't, I swear to whatever deity you pray to that I'll pin your tongue to the ceiling with you still attached and leave you dangling there for a day!"

The woman jumped at the sharp words, and stared at the sword. She was probably not able to summon in a dirty room, a room filled with natural mana. The drawl came anyway, "I told you yesterday I don't mind you taking control, but I don't appreciate threats."

Yuuta threw his blade, driving up to the hilt in her foot in a matter of milliseconds. The sword had already reappeared in his hands when she started screaming.

"It's not a threat if I actually have to do it. You have one more second." The woman ran, leaving blood everywhere.

"See!" He turned to Nibutani, who was covering her body, looking at him with big eyes. "That woman hasn't heard a no in the past fifty years of her life and she thinks she owns everyone and everything. She's worse than Nara ever was! At least he paid his peons!"

"Yuuta! Please calm down! You're scaring me!" Blood still dripped from his blade.

"I'm scared! These are the people that are supposed to prevent the destruction of our world?!" He could no longer stop the anger, but he did let Ganjouna shimmer out of existence. His breath was ragged, his throat sore.

She grabbed him holding him tight, his arms pinned at his sides. He bristled at the attempt to calm him, trying to break loose, but she clenched, her whole body tensed. Slowly the anger fled him as her scent filled his nose, as her softness brushed against his hardness. Her mind seemed to wrap around his, soothing it.

It still took ten minutes before he felt calm enough to tell her to let go. She complied at his soft voice.

"I'm not apologizing," he said.

"I know," her smile was soft.

"Togashi-sama, Nibutani-sama, breakfast is served, would you like to partake in that, or do you need me to join you?" the bright voice of his assistant entered the room. She was completely undressed, and the only thing Yuuta noticed before the anger seeped in once more was that her nipple were remarkably pink for someone with such dark skin.

"Get dressed and scram!" he yelled. She bowed, and started dressing immediately.

"Yuuta-sa…" the rest of the words didn't travel that far. Yamishita entered at exactly the wrong moment apparently.

"Shinka, go get dressed," his voice had that tone that rarely anyone fought against. It was no different now. She immediately went to the bedroom. He marched into the antechambers. He picked up Eguchi like a doll.

"That tickles sir!" she exclaimed. He put her inside the office and threw her clothes after her. "Get dressed." He closed the door on her.

"Who is she?" Yamishita managed to stammer, his eyes glued to the now closed door.

"My new assistant," Yuuta said, followed by an exasperated sigh, "Sit down and stop drooling."

Yamishita shook his head and sat down in one of the sofas. "Why have you called me? I assume it's not to admire your naked assistant."

"Which you didn't seem to mind doing."

The man shrugged apologetically. "She's pretty, and unlike you, I'm not tied down."

"These people don't seem to care about that." Conversation stalled as the door reopened, and the dressed Eguchi crossed the room. She made a small bow before slipping out.

"Yamishita, we'll be enacting Abyss Regret. Shinka might talk me out of going full blown 34 but we are going up to at least 26. Start your work."

The man's look became solemn. "The Void calls us all."

"The Void answers us all," Yuuta responded. Abyss Regret could only be started by Yuuta himself, and only personally. Walter and Nishima were aware of the contents, but neither could activate it.

"If you don't mind, I'll be leaving then. Lots of work and all."

"As long as you're not planning to chase after that skirt," Yuuta smiled. Nibutani would not like hearing about this, but he could not make himself care about the Temple today.

"Yuuta, what was that?" she asked as she entered the room as Yamishita left.

"Eavesdropping?" he moved over to the table pulling out a chair, for her, which she took. He sat opposite of her.

"The Void calls us all?"

"I told you, an organisation of my own, no ties to anything else, a Void that draws power. An Organisation of Ability Users adhering to their purpose."

"The Void?"

He nodded. "I thought I told you to not do that," she said, biting down on a croissant.

He didn't touch the food. "I'm not ripping away from the temple just yet. We will now become a shadow operation, working in the temple, but on our own as well. I'm giving you an opportunity to convince me not to leave now."

She chewed slowly, thinking about her answer. He could almost hear the gears whirring in her mind.

"I'm guessing I'm not good enough of an answer?" she started, a half smile on her face.

"You could join me too, and I don't think I would be good enough an argument then either."

"Yeah. How about this? Starting a new organisation takes capital, manpower and so much more. Taking over the temple would not."

"True, but I scooped up all of Nara's possessions secretly after I creamed him, so that's not really an issue either."

"How about manpower though?"

"I'm sure you are well aware that there are more than enough men that would follow me. Maybe not all that are currently part of Void, but most that know me would. You know how adored I am."

"Brag about it. How about this then? If you create void, you would immediately be the target of the Temple Council, which would lead to the death of many of your men."

Yuuta gritted his teeth. That was not untrue. He could not defend everyone all the time. "Fine. For now, we'll stay."

"By the way, what is the original purpose of the Ability User? You've mentioned it several times."

"To prevent the destruction of our world by beings from other places in the Spectrum. Only Ability Users can sense and stop them."

"It's not often that beings make an effort to cross though."

"You're lucky that the lower echelon does a good job hunting, but we both know, that just one strong Angel or Demon could topple everything, and these slugs, that have done nothing for so long, would not be able to stand up to them either. None of them exert any type of power."

"They possess the potential to become strong again."

"Potential is the worst defence. No one will wait until we are ready."

They ate the rest of their meal in silence.

* * *

Kazuma groaned as he flipped through the mass of paper he had been preparing. Creating Void was a thing that Yuuta had been planning for some time, but he hadn't allowed him to make any physically findable evidence.

Now he had to get every single person involved informed, or their minds wiped if they didn't want to join. That would take Walter or Nashima's help, since he didn't have the power to do it, but having them in an office all day to do that would basically be impossible, so he first had to try the people that could take over that job, until he had some to increase the processing speed.

Maybe they'd rip away from the Temple instead of creating a shadow organisation. At least then it didn't matter if they were discovered. That would still not account for his people in the other temples, who would have to be screened of location, since they aren't allowed to enter other temples.

At least he wouldn't have to do all the work alone in an hour or two, when the first couple of scribes were screened. He never thought he'd start disliking the work he used to do all the time, but the scheming, the spying, the actual thinking that was necessary since Yuuta had recruited him gave more satisfaction than anything before.

He shouldn't have this much power. In fact, if it wasn't for Yuuta, he wouldn't have any power at all. He was barely an Ability User to begin with. The Temple used him and others that are marginally better that regular humans to do their paperwork. Yuuta never operated under the assumption that a normal human was less useful than an Ability User.

A knock on his door warned him of Nashima's entrance. "He's doing it, isn't he?" she didn't even wait for the answer. She knew even as he had called on her that the time had finally come.

"He was going to let me know whether or not we'll be ripping away completely. I doubt it though. Even if every single person currently employed by us joins us, we have no base, no defences. I doubt he'll risk lives if he can avoid it."

"He won't rip away now. I don't give it more than a month until he does though. We preparing a base?"

"Yes, we are, a small one that'll only be used to shift to the Otherworld, where we'll be hiding the real base."

"Location?"

"Not determined yet."

She nodded. She started browsing to the papers he had prepared. "I have two hours before I'm expected anywhere else. Who are the priority targets?"

"I need… at least ten trustworthy scribes to get people here. Then I need strong enough people to take your place."

"That'll be close, but I think I can do it, assuming most say yes to begin with."

"Let's hope."

Another knock announced the first one to be tested. Maiko sounded way too cheery for what she was going to be subjected to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit late again, I apologize. It's my girlfriend's fault (it always is). I'm not quite sure how I feel about this chapter. I've read it too many times to be accurate in my judgement I think. I had to shift around some plot points to ensure that things keep making some sense. Next chapter might be later as college will resume soon, and I might be too busy to write lots. I hope you will understand and
> 
> Thank you for reading


	23. Serve

**22: Serve**

The cat growled at him from the corner of the room it immediately fled to after he opened the cage. He sighed deeply. There was no time for this. This morning, before school, he had created a permanent rift to the location of his base. A clean room had been made so that the guards could defend the spot, and they were building the base as of this moment.

Kazuma had nearly killed himself last night, screening at least one hundred and fifty people, and he had begun early today too. More people arrived, and while he trusted Nashima to lead them well enough when he wasn't there, she couldn't be there all the time.

The Dark Flame Master was a particularly annoying personality to have, and only seemed to want to teach, or do anything really, when he felt like it. And he had chosen this evening as the perfect moment to create an enhancement for a living being.

He tried coaxing the cat toward him, clicking his tongue, and squatting down to make himself less looming. The cats back curved impossibly as it hissed at him.

" _Difficulties with your pussy?"_  The mocking sound of his own voice grated against him, and he felt his anger flare, like it had yesterday morning. He pushed it down, swallowing it away.

"Just give me a damn minute." Alright, maybe not completely away. He walked out of the room, closing the door quickly to make sure the cat didn't sprint out. He came back only moments later after retrieving a piece of salmon.

The cat was still in its corner, and jumped back on its paws as soon as he entered. The hissing resumed, but when he lowered himself again and offered the fish, it slowly subsided. A minute passed before it moved, creeping closer step by step.

He didn't move, not wanting to scare the little creature… it deserved a small measure of love before the torture that an enhancement inflicts. It pawed at his hand, not trusting him. When it didn't get a reaction, it lowered its head and bit.

Sharp teeth drilled into his hand, drawing blood as he hadn't been prepared for the attack. He pulled back, grunting as the pain travelled up his arm and into his mind. The laughter that echoed around up there didn't help either.

"Alright, if you want to play it like that!" he growled. He waved his hand, and the cat stopped mid stride. Completely enveloped with solid air, the only thing it could still do was breathe, and even that barely. Its yellow eyes skittered around nervously, but it couldn't even cry out.

Gesturing, the tiny animal flew up and approached him. Mortal fear was the only thing readable in those eyes. Even such a limited mind could understand approaching death. He almost smiled, before he realized he was revelling in the pain of another creature. He shook the feeling off, sealing it away in the same place he had tried to seal his anger before.

The anger he kept this time though. Wrapped in the emotion he'd be able to do what he needed to, without stopping halfway or something. The anger made him sharper. He placed a single finger on its head. Low growling came from the beast, but the sound was dampened by the thick air so much he almost didn't pick it up.

He could feel the other him leaning forward, as he started probing the experimental meat of the thing in front of him. Fear flayed at the edges of his anger when he became aware of this primitive mind. It couldn't penetrate into his mind, he hardly took notice. That would be harder when it was Nibutani.

This was only a thing to him though. He started forcing his power into it, doing again what he had done many times before. The fear that attacked his mind increased, until it was finally overcome by pain. He was to focused on his task to notice the small smile creeping onto his face.

Minutes into creating the enhancement, which must have seemed like an eternity stretched through infinity for the creature, now already no longer a cat, he noticed the body was straining against the bonds. It was growing, and the process was accelerating.

He forced them through the Spectrum, he couldn't have his apartment to be destroyed after all. Landing in the Otherworld, he was almost shocked at the sight around him. Hundreds of Demons lumbering forward, an army at march.

The Demons were shocked at his sight. A circle quickly opened up around him, weapons drawn, from crude axes, to massive swords, to spears made to pierce creatures larger than himself easily. None of them attacked though.

Power. More power than any of them had likely ever seen or sensed. He could sense the stronger ones, the ones that might dare approach him, rush to his position. He had time still. The bonds around the former cat disappeared, and as if it had been compressed, its body immediately grew more than ten times its original size.

Mismatched legs hit the ground, claws digging into the dirt. The circle around him and the creature became bigger. The body started changing, following the legs. The back legs had grown into the claws of an eagle, and what was left that looked catlike, started taking the form of a lion. Wings sprouted from its back as it kept growing, now taller than him.

The stronger Demons that had been approaching slowed, he could feel them hesitate. Seconds later, the creature that he had created roared loudly, and the Demons moved on. Fast. The earth shook as the mass started sprinting, leaving certain death behind them as quickly as they could.

The creature finally stopped growing when its wither height surpassed his own by at least half. It's tail snapped, scales replacing fur, and a snake head to top it off.

He let the creature go, and it dropped to the ground, the cord that was keeping it up cut. It breathed heavily, its yellow eyes fixated on the one that had hurt it. The smile that he had been wearing grew. The creature was strong. Likely as strong as an unrestrained Wicked Eye, or Touka at her prime.

The tail moved, the venomous head shooting towards him. "The only thing that you don't have that they do, is a mind that can't be manipulated." He pushed himself toward the creature, his essence ripping its way into that primitive mind.

It had grown smarter, but not smart enough, to defend against this. He willed to be his, bonding it to him as if it was a weapon. The anger immediately disappeared from its mind, only wanting to serve and receive 'pets' from him now.

"You will serve when I summon you. Until then, hunt to your hearts content." The chimaera bounded to its feet, and leapt after the Demons. That might upset the balance of the Other World, but if that happened to be, he'd just have to meticulously hunt down and murder some Angels. An afternoon of fun would not be amiss right now.

* * *

"What the hell am I supposed to do here?!" The yell scared Eguchi, who dropped the pen she had been using to fill in her crossword puzzle. Yuuta thoughtlessly slung the book aside that he had been reading, deeming it useless. Eguchi slowly moved to pick up the fallen pen, making an effort to not draw his attention.

When word had reached her that he nearly sliced of a limb, the rumour was somewhat worse than reality, she had stopped with any behaviour that he had reprimanded her for.

"Eguchi?" The woman trembled, dropping the pen once more.

"Yes, Togashi-sama?" her voice had lost that chipper tone that she once used.

"Bring me something to entertain myself." He could hear her audibly swallow. "No, I don't mean some woman for me to fuck. Bring me… a chess set, and a decent opponent. If there is no one here with half a brain, bring me someone who isn't yet a corrupted whelp."

She nodded, sprinting outside. She had not yet lost her speed. In fact, she might have become even faster at following his orders since the incident. He didn't feel great about using that fear, but he hadn't the patience to convert her to a more rational thinking style.

He twiddled his thumbs for a couple of minutes, until he was sure she wasn't coming back soon. With a sigh, he got up and placed the book back where he had retrieved it from. 'A treatise on mana type theory' sounded interesting, but the meagre grasp of the knowledge it tried to dissect was laughable.

Then again, most people didn't possess an alternate personality with hundreds of years of knowledge stored away in their brain. That still didn't excuse them from not progressing at all. No one has done any actual research in almost as many centuries as the Dark Flame Master remembers, and he didn't spread any knowledge he learned either. They should be able to figure it out for themselves.

Most of the books were just the same information, over and over again, re-digested so many times that errors had piled up in ways that seemed impossible, and yet, there they were. There was even one crackpot that thought any human had the talent to become an Ability User. This probably stemmed from unnoticeably weak ones growing stronger suddenly.

Void would be surpassing the temples so quick in knowledge, and therefor strength, that he started to seriously doubt he actually needed to protect them. When the base was done, he'd be able to rip away without any fear. None of these fools could destroy that.

"Uncorrupted whelps eh?" His thoughts were interrupted by a smooth voice. A man entered his offices. "I am Major-General Okino Hitoshi. Your assistant was panicked, looking for someone who was willing to play against you, Togashi-san. Apparently you scared everyone from the Middle Cadre something fierce."

A Major-General… That was three ranks above him, and only two ranks beneath the Nibutanis. "I fear I do not care for what the inner Temple deems entertaining."

"Not interested in the flesh of a woman? When I was your age…" The thick brown moustache moved when he talked. That was the only facial hair he possessed. His hair was cropped short, the sides nearly completely gone, and the rest a flat top. It didn't really fit the rest of his appearance, his clear Chinese heritage visible in his skin tone, and the shape of his eyes.

"I'm not interested in women who throw themselves at me for no reason other than their own damn boredom," he interrupted the man.

"Well, I hope that I can alleviate some of your… boredom." He walked over to the table and opened a small box. Two golden hinges sprang up and revealed a chess board, the white squares of crystal clear glass, the black obsidian, volcanic glass. Placing the board in the middle of the table, and he started setting the pieces.

Yuuta didn't move to help, just studying the man's movements. He was different from the others he had seen so far in the inner Temple. All of the others were slow, weak, muscles and powers degenerated to the point of uselessness. This man seemed like a wolf at rest, still perfectly aware of his surroundings, prepared to jump at any threat.

The man turned around his two hands extended as fists. "Pick a colour?" Yuuta tapped one of the hands, and walked past the man to the table without looking at his pick, sitting at the side of the black pieces.

The man twisted on his ankles, showing Yuuta that he indeed picked the black pawn. The chess set itself was beautiful. Just as the squares, the pieces were made of glass as well, obsidian black, clear white. All were immaculately cast, every piece looking like the bust of a creature. The white were Demons, and the black were Angels.

"An odd chess set, which likely means you play more than you should." The man showed no reaction to the almost insult. He simply shrugged.

"It keeps my mind agile. More than most of these stuffy books they give us ever will. It's been some time since I've played someone… worthy of my skill." The smug smile of the man was not just an idle boast, at least Yuuta didn't think so. A man who carries himself which such confidence is either extremely good, or horribly stupid.

Yuuta waved at him to start, and the man opened with his king's pawn.

* * *

He didn't understand. He had been pressing every advantage for the past hour, and the man slipped through every of his moves. Yuuta prided himself on being able to think ten steps ahead, even twenty steps ahead.

Every single time Okino moved his pieces in ways that Yuuta didn't suspect, often sacrificing pieces in ways were the only thing that he could see was a disadvantage. Yet, "I believe that is checkmate Togashi-san."

Yuuta didn't respond. His eyes fluttered over the board, searching for the thing that could free him. He wouldn't be able to find it, he knew he wouldn't be able to find it. "I guess… it is."

"Well, you were surprisingly good for someone of your age. Your playstyle is… too conventional however. Predictable even. You can't save every piece, nor can you cut every enemy down. Somehow, you try both."

"I play the way the game is intended. Would you sacrificing soldiers as easily as you do your pawns?"

"Naturally. As long as the goal is reached, the sacrifices don't matter. The victor writes history Togashi, not the dead." Pieces were slowly being placed in the chest once more.

"And what would the history of today's battle have been?"

"A pyrrhic victory is better than a loss."

"A pyrrhic victory is no victory at all. The king slain, surrounded by enemies on all sides, you would all die just the same." Yuuta moved away from the table, helping just as much as he had when the game was set up.

"Being surrounded only matters when you're weak. I believe you have never in your life felt surrounded, have you?"

Flashes of Shinka being dragged down by men he couldn't reach, sharp pains from every inch permeating through his body. "Not since the first time."

"You've learned then. Learn something from me now then. Sacrifices are always inevitable. People will die, cities razes, civilizations destroyed. Progress, however, progress will always be made."

"Progress for the sake of progress might be worse than the status quo," Yuuta bit.

The man smirked, "Stagnation is the danger that you don't see coming. What do you think happened to these people here? Weak, useless filth, as you might describe them. All for the sake of keeping the status quo. Peace is the most dangerous thing humans aspire to."

Yuuta kept his silence. The things he heard were echoed inside his head. On a certain level, the man was right.

"You are young yet, you haven't met with the cruelty of this world. If you feel like playing again, send your assistant. Next time, It might take me somewhat longer to come. She is after all, quite lovely." The man gave a mocking bow and left with a wolfish grin on his face.

Yuuta stared at the doorway the man had walked through. Gears in his mind were whirring, but they locked each time before he was able to draw a conclusion about the man.

He was exactly how he expected everyone here to be. Resting wolves, power infused into their very being, felt at their approach, feared by their lesser. A commander, a lord, a ruler. Not like the languid others he had met so far. He did resolve to one thing though.

"Eguchi has to be kept away from him," the growl lay deep in his throat, and he didn't realize why immediately.

"I don't mind sir," a quivering voice came from somewhere, "It is after all one of my intended uses."

Possessions. Even if he didn't mean to use her in any way, she was still his. And what was his was his alone. Flashes of her tanned body shook his core. "After all, she is quite lovely," this growl was inaudible to the girl.

* * *

Nashima hardly comprehended what her men were doing. Void was doing things that were never even dreamed of by the Temples, not even the Organisation would dream of building such a thing.

Ash grey blocks, infused with mana to the point of breaking, and then carved to stabilise the flow. Yuuta had explained everything in great detail, but with his grasp of mana and its uses, it might as well have been gibberish.

The stones were stronger than any material she had ever seen, with the exception maybe of some of her Master's weapons. Ganjouna infused with his mana could slice through these, with some effort, but not so much that he wouldn't be able to tear this fortress down.

The Master… it still felt odd to call him that, but he had requested it as to differentiate from the ranks they knew. Void was something entirely different.

The blocks were being stacked in a plan laid out by him as well. Winding corridors, mazes, defensive measure every step of the way, from pitfalls, to arrow slots, to more.

She had thought it would take years to finish it, but as with everything, Yuuta had propped up with another solution. A private, or Initiate in the new ranks, walked past her with three of the massive blocks on his shoulders. Manipulation of the mana within the rocks could make them lighter than air.

She had drawn a conclusion about the person she served. Clues had been pointing at it from the very start, but she might have ignored them on purpose. His mood swings, his knowledge, his power… and now, his title.

The Dark Flame Master had returned. A small shiver ran up her spine. Not all stories about that person were horrible, but all of them ended badly one way or another. The last time he was trusted, he slaughtered the father of the woman he laid with, and crippled the mother for the rest of her life.

Knowing him, she hardly believed that he would be capable of such things without reason. A reason no one understood, or knew of, was more likely.

"You are relieved. Go do your other job, I'll keep watch through the night." She almost jumped at his voice, but kept her calm, being as collected as she had always been in his eyes.

"Don't little kids have bed times?"

A smile curved his lips. "Some adults deserve bed times, and unless you want to keep watch for the next couple of days that it'll take to build this, I think you should take the offer. You aren't going to become younger, and I can spot wrinkles from a mile away."

"I was thinking!" she shouted, laughter lacing through her words.

"Oh, that explains the smoke coming out of your ears," he grinned, his green eyes locking with hers.

"You might be the master here, but I'll still old enough to swaddle your bottom young man," her response rang.

"You can swaddle my bottom, but I can do that just as well," as if to proof his point he slapped her behind softly. "Go home, go sleep. From tomorrow on, you can likely sleep here. The quarters should almost be done."

She pinched his bottom as retribution, and he clearly hadn't expected it. He jumped, and stared incredulously at her. "A little revenge never hurt anyone," she made a pinching gesture with her fingers before turning and walking away.

She almost turned the corner around the gates, when she felt a pinch on her bottom. She twisted quickly, her hair flipping through the air. He was very clearly looking away from her, and the grin on his face made it obvious he was the culprit.

"And I wonder why I don't fear the man."

* * *

"We need to dismiss him!" Okuda yelled. This meeting was kept close under wraps. If word leaked out… who knew what that crazy child would do. Only Okuda had been stupid enough not to wear a mask.

A soft and calm voice spoke soothingly, "We can't dismiss him. He's the same rank as us."

"We can if we can convince someone from the upper Cadre…" another person spoke.

"No one would dare touch him. Not only is he extremely powerful, to gain this rank at such an age, he also has the ear of Takahiro and even more from our esteemed little Warleader." The last person's voice was filled with fear.

"That doesn't matter! If we band together, they'll have to listen to us!" Okuda could not hide her wish, to escape from that man. Her foot still hurt, the wound refused to heal as fast as any other wound she ever had.

"Who would dare invoke the wrath of the Nibutanis?" the fear filled voice was definitely supportive of her cause.

"More importantly, the wrath of that person. He already threatened with murder toward one of us while he was still a member. A personal vendetta against those who dismissed him is within the possibilities," the calm person said.

"Stop throwing wrenches and help. He might kill us anyway!"

"Calm down Okuda."

"You did not see him then! You do not know!" the woman shivered. "Death. That was everything you could find in those eyes! He treats us like bugs! Unwanted vermin!"

"So? He can't make a move against us. He can't actually kill us without being dismissed himself." This was the third person, the one that had been silent all along.

"They didn't care that he nearly sliced my foot clean off! No one blinked an eye! If one of us disappeared, no one would wonder, except maybe for a shrug."

"You're just letting panic influence all your thoughts," calm emanated.

"There have been rumours, that people who were involved with him vanished without a trace. There was a Captain-Commandant that no one heard anything of after Togashi manoeuvred that section into his hands," fear, believe in the truthfulness of the rumour.

"Who?! Who can help us?" Okuda broke.

"The only one that might not fear him, and the Nibutanis combined is Okino-sama."

"Might as well jump in a pot of magma for all the help he'd be! He never does anything that doesn't serve his own agenda."

"We might be able to convince him if we sketch Togashi as a threat. And not even Takahiro can dismiss an order from him without support of the upper cadre. Okino would win that debate."

"Who's going to talk to him?"

"We all are! I'm not sticking out my neck alone!"

Everyone nodded. They immediately disappeared into the night.

* * *

 He snickered at the retreating backs.  _"The boy has really been making an effort. Everyone seems to fear coming near him."_

Okino was satisfied. He didn't fear the boy he met some hours ago. He could move as these maggots had requested. They'd give him a firm grasp of the lower Cadre, without actually being revealed.

He tapped his pen against his lips, letting his mind wander. The boy was worthwhile, groomed into something that he could use as a figurehead, he'd finally have control over the whole temple within the year.

Given that he'd still be able to shape the boy. He had a tough core, though not even that core seemed to be sure of where it stood just yet. If anything, it felt like the boy was wandering a knife's edge between being a godly saviour, or a godly destroyer.

He had power, that was certain. Not more than himself, but he was young, he could still grow. And grow out of his control if he tried to keep him as a pet.

At this moment in time, it might even be impossible to convert the kid to his cause. His ideals were naïve and nigh enough the polar opposites of his own.

And then there was that splintering that happened wherever he set foot. He tried to hide it, but people were moving where they shouldn't and everything could be traced back to him. The little one might be planning a coup of his own.

"What to do, what to do?" he asked the shadows in his office.

Sinister whispering answered him.

He nodded. He didn't hear much from them, but he had to follow where they lead no matter his own thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I missed my own deadline. Again. Apologies again? It hardly matters. So new chapter, and it isn't even that long or particularly dense. Everything has been murder on my mind and body for the past few months so I can't even judge whether I want to publish this chapter or not. When reading it, I feel happy but it also feels like a massive drop in quality. Or maybe my writing was always this bad? Other stories, college, work, and everything has piled up and onwards. I actually haven't put a word on paper since two months ago until this weekend. I don't know. Maybe I'll wrap the story up after this arc. Maybe it'll find a new lease on life by the the current arc's end. We'll see... Anyway, enough rambling. Oh, a thank you to the people that have been leaving reviews. They help. Let me know what you think, and
> 
> Thank you for reading


End file.
